The Kitsune Champion and the Ten Kitsune Warriors
by KyuubiGoku
Summary: I need ten warriors. Ten who will rise above the rest. Ten who will fight beside me and become my allies. Ten who will help me bring about peace to the nations and destroy the wicked. Ten warriors who will follow and fight with me to our dying breaths.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: KyuubiGoku is here with a new story. I'm discontinuing my The Fox loves The Cat story and will place the pairing for this story instead. Enjoy.**_

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><p><em><strong>Nighttime Konoha,<strong>_

The village of Konoha was quiet and tranquil. Everyone was enjoying their peace and silence as everyone was enjoying their sweet dreams. All except one person.

Naruto Uzumaki was known to be lots of things. He was called a knucklehead, a dead last loser and even a worthless shinobi. The only thing people could say about him positively was that he was the biggest dreamer for any fresh out of the academy genin. Naruto was currently in his bed tossing and turning while sweat dripped down his face. His face seemed full of anguish as he struggled through whatever he was dreaming during his sleep.

"No it can't end like this. Why is everyone fighting? You need to stop fighting. STOP!" Naruto yelled as he opened his eyes fast and leaned from his bed. Naruto panted heavily and looked at the sheets on his bed then widened his eyes when his saw the sweat from his brow stain the sheets. Naruto rubbed the sweat off his face and gripped the sheets tighter. Naruto looked around his room and slowed his breathing down which caused him to relax a bit more.

"It was just a dream," Naruto said before getting up and heading to the kitchen counter. Naruto turned on the lights of his one room apartment and reached out for a cup and got some water from the sink. He twisted the cup through his hands and sat near his table. Naruto closed his eyes before taking a gulp of the cold water. Naruto turned his head to see the moon outside then looked at his messed up bed sheets.

"What kind of dream was that? I don't even know, but the villages were all fighting. It was a major war zone if I've ever seen one which I haven't, but it felt so real to me," Naruto said to himself while he finished the last of his glass of water. Naruto placed the glass in the sink and turned out the lights before going back to his bed.

"I'll have to talk to Kakashi-sensei about it tomorrow," Naruto said as he dozed off still thinking about the dream that had inhabited his mind.

_**Next Morning**_

Naruto groggily woke up and turned his gaze to the bright sun that shined through his curtains. Naruto slightly cursed that in the end, he didn't get any sleep at all and was now exhausted. He also cursed his luck of having training with Sasuke and Sakura. Naruto sighed and scratched his head as he exited the wrecked bed. Naruto slowly walked towards the shower and allowed the warm water to pour over his body. Naruto's spiky hair grew moist and dropped down covering his eyes. If one looked close enough, they would see complete confusion and struggle within Naruto's eyes as the blond seemed to be in deep thought which was like him at all.

"I really need to talk to Kakashi-sensei about that dream last night. Hopefully, he will have some answers for me since I have no idea what I was looking at," Naruto said and turned the shower off. Naruto stepped out and wrapped his towel around the lower half of his body. Naruto reached for the cupboard and pulled out a pack of instant ramen. While he waited for the right time to eat, Naruto walked to his closet and pulled out his orange jumpsuit while narrowing his eyes.

"One of these days I'll need to save money and get some better clothes. I do like my orange, but it's not the best thing for being a shinobi I guess. Oh well, I'll worry about that later," Naruto said as he slipped into his clothes. Naruto smirked when he saw the steam exiting from the cup ramen and sat down to eat. He finished his noodles rather fast and grabbed his wallet then ran out the door.

"Alright let's get to the training ground. Hopefully Kakashi-sensei isn't late...again. Ahh who the hell am I kidding. His ass is always late," Naruto muttered while ignoring some of the glares he got from people. Naruto knew about Kyuubi, but he didn't really care what people thought. So long as he knew he wasn't the Kyuubi it didn't bother him about how other thought and continued on his way.

_**Training Grounds**_

Naruto entered the grassy fields to see his two teammates leaning on the fence waiting for their sensei. One had pink hair and the other had black that looked like a duck's ass. The pink one was Sakura Haruno and the emo was Sasuke Uchiha. Sakura was doing the usual, which involved trying to get the Uchiha to go on a date with her and kept getting the same answer. A cold, hard NO!

"Hey Sakura-chan, Hey Duckbutt," Naruto yelled at his teammates. Both turned to meet their loud teammate, though Sakura decided for Naruto to 'meet' her fist giving the blond a lump on his head while he groaned from the mistreatment.

"Shut up baka, your too damn loud," Sakura said while Sasuke shifted his gaze and ignored the two. Naruto sighed and rubbed the lump on his head as he looked at his pink haired 'teammate'.

"_Why in the seven gates of hell do I like you again? You hit me, you yell too damn much and now that I really look at you, your not even all that cute. Did my taste in girls always suck this much?" _Naruto thought and proceeded to lean his back on the fence also. Naruto turned his head to see Sakura continuing to pester Sasuke and turned his gaze to the clouds while thinking of his dream last night.

"Why did I have that dream? Why can't I simply forget about it like any other dream? What does it have to do with me?" Naruto wondered, but soon began to drift off to some much needed sleep while team seven waited for its sensei to arrive since the meeting was supposed to be an 'important' meeting.

_**2 hours later**_

Naruto silently snored while enjoying his nap while Sasuke and Sakura seethed at the lateness Kakashi was showing them. Sure he had done this before, but come on. Would it kill someone to arrive on time at least once in their entire lives?

After 15 more minutes, a silver haired man with and orange book and a dark green vest appeared on top of the fence while what seemed to be an eyesmile.

"Yo," He simply said which was missed by the sleeping blond, but Sakura got to her feet and pointed at Kakashi with a fierce look of hate in her eyes.

"Your late!" She screeched which made Sasuke and Kakashi cover their eyes, but Naruto wasn't so fortunate and shot his eyes open while taking a kunai out of his pocket and shifted into a battle stance which caused the other three to look at him.

"Everyone be careful I think I heard a screeching banshee somewhere. We should all be alert," Naruto quickly said while Sakura narrowed her eyes at him. Sasuke gave a small chuckle along with Kakashi as Sakura hit Naruto on the head again causing the blond to drop the kunai and rub his head again.

"That was me you baka. Kakashi-sensei is here so let's go," Sakura ordered. Naruto narrowed his eyes again, but complied before picking up his kunai and placing it in his pouch as the team entered the training ground for their practice. All three genin stood next to the three individual log posts while Kakashi looked at them all.

"Alright we will start you guys on some teamwork exercises. Here catch," Kakashi said throwing an egg to Naruto. Naruto caught the white shell while the others turned to Kakashi for an explanation. Kakashi gave an eyesmile while holding up his book.

"I want you three to toss that egg back and forth between each other. However, after each catch and toss you must move back slightly until you can throw it far without it breaking," Kakashi told them. All three sweatdropped simultaneously, but complied and stood in a triangle sharp. Naruto simply threw the egg softly towards Sasuke. Sasuke caught the egg and moved back slightly before tossing it to Sakura. Sakura managed to avoid barely breaking it and sheepishly chuckled before throwing it towards Naruto while still looking at Sasuke with hearts in her eyes.

"Alright stop. Now can anyone tell me what went wrong?" Kakashi asked while everyone laughed when they saw the shattered egg and all it's contents on him. Sakura turned her gaze to Naruto and pointed her finger at him.

"Naruto-baka, why didn't you catch the damn egg?" Sakura screeched while Naruto turned a tired gaze to his loud as hell teammate. Sakura awaited his answer since Naruto was being unusually quiet which unnerved the other slightly.

"Maybe if you weren't looking at your boy toy you would be able to throw it to me and not into Kakashi-sensei's face. You damn pink banshee," Naruto said whispering the last part to himself. Luckily, Sakura didn't hear him while Kakashi produced another egg for them to work on. This went on for about 2 more hours, but they managed to gain quite a bit of distance before Sakura threw the egg to Naruto, however Kakashi stopped them.

"Alright that's enough. You guys did surprisingly well. Now we will start some chakra control exercises to finish then we can leave. No missions today," Kakashi told them. Everyone nodded and got in a mediative pose, but Naruto turned back to Kakashi since he figured this was as good a time as any to ask about the dream he had last night.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto said motioning for the copy ninja. Kakashi turned his gaze to Naruto and smiled while setting his book down near his pouch.

"What is it Naruto?" Kakashi asked since it was rare that Naruto ever asked him for anything. Kakashi hadn't really taught the blond anything, but if he wanted some help Kakashi couldn't flat out deny it to him.

"Do you think we could talk in private? I want to tell you about something that's been bothering me," Naruto said as Kakashi stopped his eye smile and gazed at the blond. It wasn't like Naruto to be so bothered by things before. It was even weirder that he felt he couldn't talk to Kakashi in the presence of his two teammates. Granted, they weren't friends, but teammates were meant to trust each other right?

"Alright then, but after this you must practice got it?" Kakashi asked to which Naruto immediately nodded. Soon the student and teacher walked off which had Sakura and Sasuke wondering what the problem was, but neither said anything since it wasn't important to them.

Naruto and Kakashi walked into a denser part of the forested area where the sun wouldn't reach them. Naruto felt the cool breeze on his face while his hair swayed in the wind along with Kakashi's. Naruto looked at the ground while Kakashi continued to read his book. Kakashi wasn't sure, but for some reason Naruto seemed a lot more serious and it made the usually calm jonin tense slightly under the silence.

"Alright Naruto, what is it you wanted to talk with me about? Kakashi asked not taking his eyes off the book in front of him, but he felt that he really should listen to whatever Naruto had to say. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the ground trying to buy a few more seconds of thought before speaking. He couldn't believe he would need to talk to his sensei about his dreams. It felt almost childish in hindsight, but he decided to risk it this once. Hell, if he could talk about his dream of being Hokage then how was this any different?

"Umm...don't laugh or think this is a waste, but it's about a dream I had last night," Naruto said to him. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at what Naruto said, but mentally chuckled. He could only wonder if it had to do with Naruto's dream of being Hokage and getting people to acknowledge him for not being the Kyuubi incarnate. Kakashi nodded for Naruto to continue still slightly amused that the blond would talk about his dreams with him.

"Well it's kind of hazy to be, but in my dream the five elemental nations are all at war with each other," Naruto said shocking Kakashi, who barely managed to keep his composure. Kakashi slightly lowered his book to look at Naruto and could tell that the blond was being serious and listened intently, though the idea of the five elemental nations all going to war against each other seemed like an out of this world idea, but it certainly was possible.

"I saw a massive battlefield where there were countless bodies of shinobi from every nation littered on the ground. The ground was stained with blood and fires raged around the battlefield. Everyone seemed so angry with each other. Even the kages were getting into the violence. It all made my heart ache from the feeling of seeing people throw their lives away. But then I saw a bright light over a hill not far from where the war that was taking place. I saw eleven people standing on the mountain while looking down at the chaos. There seemed to be one person and the other ten were his followers. They all jumped into the midst of the battlefield and began to counter each elemental nation's forces with their power. People all seemed to forget their fighting and concentrate on the ten warriors and their leader. It was then I woke up with beads of sweat dropping down my face. It seemed so real that I couldn't get any real sleep for the whole night," Naruto finished and tried to judge Kakashi's reaction, but failed miserably. Meanwhile, Kakashi was in the biggest stump of his life. Naruto's dream seemed too detailed to be a simple dream. The way Naruto described it, it was more like something that was going to happen sooner or later. Kakashi couldn't even focus on his book and placed it away.

"_I've heard of people having bad dreams, but this is ridiculous. That doesn't even sound like a dream. More like a vision, but of what? For all five elemental nations to go to war with each other, they must all have done something to each other. Something about that dream isn't normal. I should talk to Hokage-sama about this dream of Naruto's," _Kakashi thought before turning back to Naruto. Kakashi soon gave the blond and eyesmile which caused Naruto to calm down slightly while Kakashi patted his shoulder.

"Well Naruto, I don't know much about dreams, but I don't think you should worry about it too much. I'm sure it's nothing important," Kakashi lied. Naruto seemed to object with him, but ultimately nodded as the two left the dense forest and appeared back into the field where Sakura and Sasuke had just finished their exercises and turned to their teammate and sensei.

"What did you two talk about?" Sakura asked which caused Naruto and Kakashi to falter for a few seconds. Kakashi turned to Naruto, but was surprised when the blond smiled and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head which raised the eyebrows of Sasuke and Sakura.

"We talked about the road of life or the meaning of it anyway," Naruto said with a foxy grin that made Kakashi chuckle. Sakura and Sasuke sweatdropped at his answer, but appeared to accept it nonetheless and walked off since training was done for the day. Naruto sat down in the field and did his own chakra control exercises while Kakashi disappeared leaving the blond alone. Due to his large chakra capacity Naruto simply made kage bunshins to help with the control since he learned how to use them right from Kakashi. While the bunshins worked on the chakra control exercises, Naruto found that mediating wasn't so bad when Kakashi had taught them the first time. Sasuke and Sakura didn't really like it since their muscles stiffened, but Naruto found it relaxing which surprised everyone that he was the one to enjoy mediating the most. During his mediation, Naruto heard a small ringing sound and opened his eyes, but only saw his clones working in the field.

"Must have been the wind," Naruto said with a simple shrug before closing his eyes again to focus. Naruto heard the ring again like a soft bell being rung at a slow and comfortable pace. Naruto opened his eyes again, but didn't see anything or anyone. Naruto sighed as today simply wasn't his day. Naruto saw most of his clones still working on tree climbing. Naruto stood to his feet and focused some more, but the ringing stopped and he gripped the top of his head trying to understand everything.

"What is going on? First my dream and now this weird ringing. What's next?" Naruto wondered before realizing the time. Naruto dispelled his clones along with the few successful and many unsuccessful attempts to climb the trees in front of him. Naruto rubbed his eyes and felt that he really need some sleep, so he decided to got back to his room and do just that. Naruto turned back to the training field, but more specifically the pond and narrowed his eyes at it. Naruto then simply shrugged since he felt his imagination playing with him.

"Man today was too weird. I might as well get some ramen from Ayame-chan and Teuchi-oji-san while I'm out. Can't sleep on an empty stomach," Naruto said with a grin before disappearing from the training field.

_**With Kakashi**_

The copy ninja was currently in the Hokage mansion talking to an aged old man wearing the traditional Hokage robes. He had a pipe in his mouth and inhaled the essence of the smoke while he heard Kakashi's news.

"Are you sure that's all that Naruto-kun talked about?" Sarutobi asked Kakashi. The copy ninja nodded immediately while trying to judge the Hokage's reaction to the dream of Naruto's. Sarutobi always had concerns for Naruto due to...a problem that he held. Sarutobi saw Naruto like a surrogate grandson so hearing a dream as ominous as that had the aged Hokage riled up slightly even if he didn't really show it.

"Do you think Naruto had a vision of the future?" Kakashi asked. Sarutobi turned to the window and looked at the village below before taking another puff of his pipe and then proceeded to take it out of his mouth.

"Visions have always shown up to the most unlikely of people, but I can only wonder about that dream of Naruto-kun's. For now we will do nothing, but keep tabs on the comes and goes of the other villages," Sarutobi said to the ex-anbu captain. Kakashi nodded and shunshined out of sight while Sarutobi leaned back into his chair.

"If Naruto-kun's dream is an actual vision of the future, then we are looking at a very big problem," Sarutobi said before turning back and groaning at a kage's true number one enemy...paperwork.

_**With Naruto**_

Naruto having made it to the ramen stand eagerly came inside and smiled looking at the ramen chef and his daughter.

"Hey Ayame-chan. Hey Teuchi-oji-san," Naruto said bringing the father-daughter duo to him. Both smiled at their number one customer and faced him directly.

"Hey Naruto-kun, how are you doing?" Ayame asked him. Naruto grinned while taking a seat near the counter, but afterwards he sighed making his smile diminish some which had the two ramen makers worried.

"I'm alright, just been having weird dreams lately and not getting enough sleep is all," Naruto said with a simple shrug. Ayame and Teuchi turned to each other in confusion before turning back to Naruto.

"Well I hope you will be alright Kid. I can't have my number one source of income go dead on me," Teuchi said while Naruto got a gleam in his eye and slumped his shoulders.

"So I'm only a source of income for you guys huh?" Naruto asked while Teuchi paled. Ayame glared towards her father and forced him to bow his head towards Naruto in an apology.

"No Naruto-kun, your an invaluable person for us. I didn't mean it that way it sounded. I'm sorry, please don't misunderstand me," Teuchi said along with Ayame. Naruto chuckled as it was too easy to play with Ayame and Teuchi. It made his heart lighten from most of today's events.

"It's alright you guys. I was just joking. Now please let me have some of the best ramen in the world," Naruto said causing the two to perk up in front of him. Both nodded and waited for Naruto's order.

"So what would you like Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked him. Naruto smirked and adopted a thinking pose for a few seconds to think of his favorite bowl of ramen.

"I'll have 4 bowls of miso ramen. All Naruto size, and one normal BBQ ramen," Naruto said to them. Teuchi and Ayame nodded and told Naruto to wait patiently for his food while they prepared it. Naruto sat calmly on the seat with his mouth drooling from the delicious smell of the nearly prepared food. After 20 minutes of gruesome waiting, Ayame and Teuchi placed the bowls on the counter one after the other as Naruto savored the sweet smell of his food. Naruto grabbed his chopsticks and prayed before eating his food.

"Itadakimasu," He said before diving into the first bowl. Naruto hungrily went at the first bowl of miso ramen while Teuchi and Ayame watched with smiles on their faces of their favorite customer eat their food. In no time at all Naruto finished the first bowl and moved onto the second. Both gasped at Naruto's speed of eating, but didn't say anything since they knew this was how he always ate.

Naruto quickly devoured the second, third and fourth bowl before moving onto the last bowl which was the BBQ ramen. Naruto's mouth watered at the meaty looking noodles and quickly finished that bowl also leaving a bloated stomach on the table along with a content and happy smile on his face.

"Thanks for the food Ayame-chan, Teuchi-oji-san. Perfect as always. How much do I owe you guys?" Naruto asked them. Ayame rang up the price and gave it to Naruto.

"The cost is 1,180 yen," Ayame said with a genuine smile. Naruto nodded and took out his wallet paying the full amount of money and left it on the counter. Naruto bid his two precious friends goodbye and walked home.

"Man that was good," Naruto said as he continued to walk to his apartment with a big smile on his face.

It didn't take long for Naruto to reach his apartment as he climbed the grueling stairs and came up to his front door. Naruto fished around his pockets for his keys and came up successful and unlocking the door. Naruto opened it to see the empty room. He gave a small smile wondering why he had to be alone. Naruto soon gave a lonely sigh and quickly changed from his jumpsuit to his pajamas. Naruto didn't really care that it was the middle of the day. He just really wanted to go back to sleep. The blond soon climbed into his bed and closed the curtains keeping the sun from penetrating the room. Naruto closed his eyes and went back to sleep deciding not to worry about his dream anymore for the day.

_**Later that night**_

Naruto was quietly snoring and having a simple dream, but opened his eyes and leaned up from his bed. He appeared to be in a daze while the ringing he heard from the training grounds penetrated his ears again. Naruto didn't say anything and simply got up before walking to his closet. Naruto put on his orange jumpsuit and blue shinobi sandals then left the room.

The blond genin walked the streets of Konoha while the moon gleamed in the sky, but if someone knew Naruto well then they could tell that he wasn't walking right. The blond didn't seem to be aware of his surrounding at all. It almost looked like he was hypnotized by something. Naruto continued his sleep walking and entered his team's usual training ground. Naruto continued to walk, but stopped momentarily to see Sasuke training near a post with his taijutsu. Naruto simply didn't say anything and advanced closer alerting the Uchiha to his presence.

Sasuke turned his head to see Naruto walking towards him and raised an eyebrow since he didn't think Naruto was a night person. Sasuke paused from his exercise and saw Naruto while the blond jinchuuriki continued to walk without saying a word which sort of pissed Sasuke off.

"Hey dobe, what are you doing out here at this late hour?" Sasuke asked him. Naruto didn't answer, but simply walked past Sasuke without uttering a word. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Naruto's weird behavior. Granted he always thought Naruto was weird this was just boarder line creepy.

"Hey dobe, I'm talking to you," Sasuke yelled, but he didn't receive a response. Hell, he didn't even receive a look that would suggest his words were even registered to the blond. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and continued to watch as Naruto came to the pond at the center of the training field. Naruto looked at hi reflection in the water for a few minutes before calmly walking into the water. Sasuke gasped as he saw Naruto disappeared into the murky water and quickly ran to see if Naruto had been stupid enough to try and kill himself.

Meanwhile, Naruto was swimming through the water still in his daze as he ventured further and further down the water. Naruto was a natural swimmer so staying under the water for long periods of time wasn't a big deal for him.

Naruto swam deeper and deeper through the murky waters before coming up to a wall with some strange markings on it. Naruto's mouth moved though he wasn't consciously doing it by himself. He almost felt forced to do it. Naruto began to translate the writings as the words glowed one after the other from being read.

"The one who unites the people is the champion. He will assemble ten warriors and they will save the world from the corrupted evil that will soon make itself known throughout the world," Naruto said as the words lighted up. The light show didn't last long before the stone crumbled revealing a hidden passage. Naruto swam through the entrance and appeared in a remote cavern. Naruto saw the marking of ancient people who were excelling in the many different types of jutsu throughout the world. There was one for taijutsu, genjutsu, kenjutsu, ninjutsu, fuinjutsu, medical jutsu, and many more. Some were even ones that Naruto didn't know about, but he was going to learn about them soon enough. After endless walking, Naruto came up to a door where at the top stop the one who leads the ten warriors into battle. The doors opened for Naruto instantly as the blond walked through. He came up to a small altar that was holding a sword in a black sheath with a dragon scarab. Naruto walked up the stairs to the sword and gripped it tightly before a voice echoed.

"This sword is the embodiment of the champion. What is your name?" The voice asked. Naruto still in his daze managed to respond with a small, but commanding voice.

"I am Naruto Uzumaki. I am the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko," Naruto responded to the unknown voice.

"Do you take this sword and all it's responsibilities as your own? Will you shoulder the burden of the entire nations and their futures depending on your actions?" The voice asked. Naruto gripped the sword tighter causing it to glow a bright, white light that seemed to cover him and his body.

"I will carry the burden of the champion and will carry out the responsibilities of this sword that I take into my hand. I will use the power given to me for the benefit of the righteous," Naruto said making the light glow brighter.

"Will you forsake all other beliefs and principles all for the sake of what you know is the right thing to do? Even if the right thing is the hardest thing to do?" The voice asked it's last question. Naruto picked up the sword and unsheathed the steel as the light covered the entire cavern in a warm and heartfelt power.

"I will walk the path that I have set for myself. I will stick to what's right even if the world turns against me. I will bring the righteous peace and the wicked their destruction. I am the Kitsune Champion, Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto said holding the sword up. The light intensified so much that it left the cavern and the pond started to glow. Sasuke continued his training, but gasped when he saw the white light in the pond. Sasuke shielded his eyes from the lights as he wondered what happened to his loser of a teammate. The light soon died down while Sasuke removed his arm from his eyes. The last Uchiha stared at the pond for who knows how long, but saw it starting to bubble and backed up a few feet as he saw Naruto emerge from the pond. Naruto was soaked, but he didn't seem to care about it. Sasuke gasped as he saw a small white aura around Naruto while the blond carefully walked out of the pond with a glowing sword in his hand.

"Dobe?" Sasuke said as Naruto walked away while sheathing his sword in it's sheath. Sasuke ran up to Naruto and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Hey dobe, what the hell happened to you?" Sasuke asked. Naruto slightly turned his head to meet Sasuke's gaze and caused the Uchiha to gasp at the pure seriousness and power he saw in those eyes. Sasuke eased his hand off Naruto's shoulder while the blond turned his head back forward and walked away from the training field. Naruto soon disappeared from view while Sasuke leaned back onto a log post.

"That power. It's incredible. That's just the type of power I need to defeat Itachi and avenge my clan. Congratulations dobe, it seems you aren't useless after all," Sasuke said with a hidden smirk.

_**With Naruto**_

Naruto continued to walk through the streets of Konoha and made it back to his apartment. Naruto open and closed the door as the light faded from his body. Naruto placed the sword down next to his bed and changed from his wet and soggy jumpsuit into his warm pajamas. Naruto climbed back into his bed and closed his eyes like nothing ever happened and went back to sleep while the sword hummed.

"The new champion has been chosen. This is the rise of the Kitsune champion," the sword said before growing silent as the room darkened leaving Naruto to his dreams and to his future adventure.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: I didn't make this clear in the first chapter, but this story is set after the Wave arc. That's all. Enjoy the story.**_

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><p><em><strong>Early Morning<strong>_

Naruto opened his eyes and stretched himself awake while turning a tired gaze to the grey skies of Konoha. Naruto sighed since he knew it was going to rain today. Yet for some reason Naruto felt more relaxed than tired after yesterday. He felt more at peace with himself since he went to bed early yesterday. Naruto got up from his bed and in the process accidently knocked over a sword that was laying next to his bed.

"What's this?" Naruto wondered as he picked up the sword. He didn't waste any time and inspected the shiny metal and awed at the calmness he felt from it. Naruto was confused. He was sleeping in his bed and suddenly a sword appears in his room the next day. It all made him wonder what was going on. Naruto placed the sword back down next to his bed before hearing a small voice.

"Naruto-sama," the voice called out. Naruto turned his head left and right to find the source of the calm voice, but it wasn't anywhere to seen. After some time, Naruto simply shrugged the voice off and went to go wash up before the voice called again.

"Naruto-sama," it continued to say. Naruto widened his eyes and knew something was calling him. Naruto felt a deep pulse hit him as he gripped his chest. Naruto turned his head slowly like he felt something calling him and gasped when he saw the sword next to his bed pulsating softly. Naruto cautiously walked up to the sword as the pulsating between the both of them grew faster and stronger. Naruto reached out to the sword and softly touched it.

"Are you calling me?" Naruto asked feeling a little silly that he was talking to an inanimate object. How surprised he was when a white light engulfed him as he disconnected his hands from the sword. The white glow suddenly faded while Naruto saw his hand slightly burned with a small seal on it. Naruto raised an eyebrow in confusion and turned back to the sword.

"You are my official master Naruto-sama," the voice said to him. Naruto turned back to the sword and gripped it. He slowly took the sword in his hand like he was trying to get a feel for it until the room was engulfed in a light that made the blond cover his eyes. After some time, Naruto opened his eyes to see a middle aged man in a white robe walking to him. Naruto raised his senses in case of an attack, but felt a sense of calm that made him wonder if he should rethink doing that. The man continued to walk until he was a few inches from Naruto.

"It is great to meet you Naruto-sama," he said while Naruto looked around the white space. He figured he was still in his room, but it unnerved the blond slightly that he couldn't get any sort of bearings. Feeling no other options, Naruto turned back to the man who made a serene smile on his face.

"Umm..hello. Can I ask you where we are?" Naruto asked the mysterious person in front of him. The man smiled with a quick nod before sitting on the floor. Naruto followed his lead and sat on the floor next to him in a lotus position while the two talked.

"This place is now as a transcended space. It's where I am able to communicate with you face to face. I can tell you have lots of questions. Fortunately, this space's time isn't the same as the real world, so you can take as much time as you'd like in here," he said to the blond. Naruto marveled at the place along with the explanation that the man gave him before turning back to the man to have his questions answered.

"Alright then um..what is your name?" Naruto asked him. The man chuckled for a bit before answering. Naruto wondered what was so funny and started to get irritated at his laughing. The man calmed down soon after and looked Naruto in his deep blue eyes.

"I've been given many names by many different warriors. I've been called **Shin no Yaiba( Sword of Death), Tenshi no Yaiba(Angel Sword), and even Kami no Shinpan(Divine Judgement)**. It all depends on the person who uses me. Generally, you would have to come up with a name since your my new master," the man said with a sincere smile. Naruto seemed confused by everything and tried his best to understand the man's words.

"Why do you have these names and say these things like your a tool. Your reminding me of another person that I meant a few days ago after my mission in Wave country," Naruto said thinking about that person who was sure could have been his friend. The man's smile faded slightly, but didn't vanish completely and patted Naruto's shoulder.

"I am a tool Naruto-sama. The sword that was in your room next to your bed was me. I'm a sentient sword that is now going to help you in your difficult task," The man said to him. Naruto wasn't expecting that of all things for someone to say to him and scratched his head with an agonizing groan. The man chuckled and softly patted Naruto's head causing the blond to look up at him.

"It's a lot of information to take in Naruto-sama, but try to understand it all. You have been chosen as the next millennium champion of this world. A great evil is coming Naruto-sama and you must be prepared for it," the man said to him. Naruto widened his eyes at the man's prediction before sitting back to his original position.

"I'm not sure I understand it all. Will you explain it all to me?" Naruto asked him. The man nodded and weaved his hand to show Naruto an intense battle scene in front of him. Naruto saw countless people fighting and killing. It all made him sick seeing people waste their lives that way. Naruto knew it was the cruel reality of war, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

"This is a battle that took place over a thousand years ago. It was an age were humans were a greedy bunch and could only prove their power by fighting and ending the life of another human. Light and Darkness were always in a constant battle with light always coming out on top. The light choses one warrior who is more capable than any it can find and uses that person to gather ten additional warriors who will follow him and conquer the darkness. However the darkness has always been getting stronger and I fear that your era is when the darkness is at it's highest. Just like the light, the dark will chose one leader and that leader will chosen ten warriors who will bring about the destruction of world. Naruto-sama, you are the new leader of the light. It is your destiny to save this world from the destruction that the dark will cause," the man explained. Naruto's world had been blown open by the explanation along with the scenes of all the battles in front of him. The man paused to gauge Naruto's reaction and saw some slight distress in the blond's eyes, but also a small hint of pride.

"So your telling me that some unknown force chose me to be it's representative as the light and gather ten warriors who will follow me at the risk of their lives to battle someone else with will be consumed by the darkness who will have it's own forces?" Naruto asked for a bit of clarification. The man nodded a bit eagerly, but stopped when he saw Naruto sigh.

"I'm sorry about this burden being placed on you Naruto-sama. I believe that you are the greatest person that can combat this foe and I want to help you accomplish your task. It's impossible for you to do alone," the man told him. Naruto slowly nodded while placing a hand on his stomach.

"I know about burdens. I've been used to it. Well, I certainly can't let the world be destroyed before I become Hokage can I?" Naruto asked with a laugh. The man raised an eyebrow, but smirked and shook his head.

"I guess you couldn't do that Naruto-sama," the man said to him. Naruto nodded and got to his feet and shook the man's hand, much to his surprise. The man gripped Naruto's hand and offered a confused smile to which Naruto explained.

"Instead of calling yourself my tool, let's call you my partner in this battle of ours," Naruto said to him. The man's smile changed to a chuckle and then to a full blown laugh. Naruto raised an eyebrow while the sentient being clutched his sides.

"Naruto-sama, you quite interesting. No one has ever called me their partner. This is the first time you've called I've been called that. Thank you," He said to the blond jinchuuriki. Naruto nodded with a sincere smile on his face and broke his connection to the man, but not before asking a question.

"So just to ask, do you have a gender?" Naruto asked him. The man raised an eyebrow, but shook his head in a negative fashion.

"No Naruto-sama. I'm a sentient being and a weapon. I'm not male or female. I simply chose this form so I could best represent myself to you. Why do you ask? The man asked the blond. Naruto gave a blank face and turned his gaze from the man which caused him to narrowed his eyes at his new master. Suddenly the man gasped and pointed at Naruto.

"Y-You want a female sentient being?" he asked. Naruto gasped which told the being all it needed. Suddenly he smirked and shook his head at his new master and preferences.

"Naruto-sama your a pervert aren't you?" He asked. Naruto shook his head fast while backing away from his new partner.

"What? Now way man, I'm not a pervert. I-I'm the furthest thing from a pervert," Naruto said while the man laughed some more before shrugging his shoulders at the blond.

"I don't really care. I was simply messing with you Naruto-sama. In truth, some champions have had preferences when it came to my gender or way of showing my appearance to them. So if you want a woman figure, I don't really mind," He said before being engulfed in a light. Naruto tried to object to the fact that he didn't mind, but it was too late as the light faded showing the new figure. Naruto's jaw hanged slightly in the air as he saw a woman with long, white hair that reached her shoulders while wearing a white kimono and white sandals.

"Is this better Naruto-sama?" The voice asked in a very feminine tone. Naruto could only blush and nod dumbly before the woman placed her hand on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto looked into her eyes as they continued.

"So how do I know when I meet my warriors? Or how do I convince them to join me?" Naruto asked her. The woman smiled and adopted a thinking pose.

"Well Naruto-sama before can start finding your warriors you need to train more. As it is right now, you need lots of help. As to how you will find them, well you will simply 'feel' that they are the right person to fight beside you. The people you are sure you can trust with your life. It also helps you to narrow things down. There is ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu, kenjutsu, fuinjutsu, medical jutsu, kinjutsu and other skills such as strategics and others. You will feel that these people are the ones who best fulfill these rolls more than anyone else. However, before you do that, you must become proficient in all those things yourself. As the leader, you will need the best out of them all. You can't have someone be better than you or they will challenge your authority to lead your group," The woman said to him. Naruto nodded that it made sense.

"So once they follow me, am I supposed to help us all train together for the day this war comes?" Naruto asked her. The woman nodded eagerly, but sat back and gave him a small smile.

"However there will come a time where you and your follower will have to forsake your villages and continue on your fight without the interference of your villages and it's beliefs," The woman said sadly. Naruto soon frowned and looked at the ground not being able to say a word. The silence reigned in the space for a while and it unnerved the sentient being slightly since she knew about his dream of being the village leader.

"So I won't be able to become Hokage?" Naruto asked her. The woman slowly nodded her head since being a missing nin meant that becoming the Hokage was almost near impossible. Naruto slumped his shoulders in slight depression, but gave her the surest smile that he could muster despite the news.

"Well if peace reigns then I guess I can give up my dream. So long as people are still alive to keep this world safe I guess I don't mind not being the Hokage. It pisses me off slightly, but I guess this is one of those responsibilities that my dream talked about," Naruto said softly. The woman nodded and decided for a change of topic and gave a smile on her face.

"So what would you like to call your group?" She asked confusing Naruto even more than he was sure he was.

"What do you mean? I have to name my group?" Naruto asked her.

"That's right Naruto-sama. All groups have their names. It's not right that you shouldn't have your own so come up with a name. I know about your...burden so I'll be right back," The woman said vanishing leaving only Naruto in the space.

_**Naruto's mindscape**_

The woman came up to the cage to see a giant fox behind the bars while it gave an annoyed look to her.

"**Hmm...I thought my container would be the first to visit me. So who are you and what do you want?" **The fox creature said to her. The woman gave a smile while the fox raised and eyebrow at her.

"Right now, I remain unnamed by my master. I have come to ask for your help in bringing peace to the lands that will begin to fall in the future," She said while made the fox laugh at her for a little.

"**Your asking the Kyuubi no Yoko, queen of the demons, to help you and my jailor keep the peace in the lands due to an evil that will try to bring the world to ruin? What are you silly?" **Kyuubi said chuckling. The woman kept up her smile and decided to give the fox her answer.

"That's exactly what I'm asking you to do for us. I've lived much longer than you so I know your not as evil as you try to proclaim to others. So you can drop the tough act in front of me and Naruto-sama. If you want something to gain from it, then you will gain your life. Cause if you don't help, then you will die along with Naruto-sama and the rest of this world will fall," The woman said deciding to play a small guilt trip on the Kyuubi. Oh how it worked to. Kyuubi silently cursed and sucked her teeth while her tails bashed around the cage that kept her from charging at the sentient being.

"**Fine, I'll help you, but only because I'm not dying by some lowlife human. Once this little war thing is over, I'm going back to being the carefree demons that I want to be," **Kyuubi stated. The woman merely nodded and walked away leaving Kyuubi to her own vices.

"Pleasure doing business with you Kyuubi," She said before vanishing. Kyuubi sighed while mentally cursing beings who were obviously stronger than her in the world.

_**Back with Naruto**_

Naruto paced the empty space for who knows long until he saw the woman in front of him. Naruto narrowed his eyes while the woman chuckled sheepishly.

"Where did you go?" Naruto asked her with more of a commanding voice while the woman smiled at him before giving him her explanation.

"I was having a talk with your...burden. She agreed to help you in this endeavor," she replied as Naruto widened his eyes at her. Naruto checked the seal on his stomach and rubbed his hand over it.

"You spoke to Kyuubi? Kyuubi's female? KYUUBI'S HELPING!" Naruto asked these three question which caused the sentient woman to laugh. She then nodded while Naruto twirled his head in confusion of the events going on in his life. The woman shook his back to his senses soon enough and gave him a small smile.

"So what would you like to call your group? and please name me while you at it," The woman nearly begged causing Naruto to laugh that he hadn't given her a name yet. Naruto adopted a thinking pose for a few seconds to think of a name for his group and for the woman in front of him.

"Alright since Kyuubi's going to help, I have the perfect name for us. We'll be called the** Kitsune Warriors **and you will be called **Eien no Hikari( Eternal Light)**. So I'll call you Hikari-chan," Naruto said with an assuring grin. The woman raised an eyebrow at both names. They definitely weren't bad, but she didn't expect him to come up with the name for his burden. Hikari shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

"Alright Naruto-sama. I hope to work well with you in bringing about peace," Hikari said with a bow. Naruto nodded and gave a bow also as the light dissipated and Naruto appeared back in his room. Naruto glanced at the sword in his hand.

"Hikari-chan?" Naruto called for his new partner and friend.

"_Hey Naruto-sama, it seems I can speak telepathically with you," _Hikari said to him. Naruto smiled with a nod, but turned his head to see nothing had changed around the room.

"Hey Hikari-chan, how long were with in that space?" Naruto asked her. Hikari gave an unseen smile and answered.

"_I said time moves different with that space and the real world. In there, we were talking for about 5 hours, but out here it's only been fifteen seconds. It's rather convenient," _Hikari said responded. Naruto chuckled with a nod as he set the sentient sword on the bed. Naruto went to take a shower since he had to meet his team somewhere in the next two hours. Naruto allowed the warm water to wash over him as he remembered all the things Hikari had told him. Naruto sighed as his life just got weirder, but to him it wasn't much of a bother. This just meant that things were going to get a whole lot more interesting. Naruto exited the shower and changed into his regular jumpsuit and picked up Hikari before seeing the seal on his hand from earlier.

"Hey Hikari-chan, what is this seal on my hand? I remember touching you for the first time and an aura surrounded me then this appeared on my hand. Mind telling me what it is?" Naruto asked her.

"_Sure Naruto-sama, that seal is the protection seal that I give all the champions. It allows only you to wield me and use me. Anyone else will instantly let go from an intense burning sensation that they will feel on their hands. I don't want to be wielded by anyone other than you, Naruto-sama," _Hikari stated to the blond. Naruto nodded with a smile and strapped Hikari to his back.

"_Naruto-sama?" _Naruto stopped at the door to hear Hikari call his name.

"Yes Hikari-chan?"

"_Naruto-sama you really need to change your attire. It's not fitting for a Kitsune Champion to wear such clothing," _Hikari said while Naruto got depressed from people always nagging about his clothes. Sure even he said that he needed to get some new clothes, but was orange really that bad of a color to be seen in?

"I know Hikari-chan. I was going to buy some new clothes today anyway," Naruto said as he closed the door and came into the streets of Konoha. Hikari nodded that he should get some new clothes, but decided to stay silent after since Naruto told her about going to by something different, MUCH different.

After nearly an hour of running, Naruto made it to the meeting spot of his team and decided to bid them all a quick hello.

"Hey Sakura, Hey Teme," Naruto called. Both were surprised by the absence of the -chan suffix from Naruto, but didn't mind it too much before both gazed on the sword on his back. Sasuke especially glared at the sword and had a hidden smile on his face as he remembered last night. He remembered how powerful Naruto looked with the sword in his hand. The powerful, white aura that surrounded his body and finally that stare that made everyone look like they were insignificant insects. Sasuke gleamed at the chance of having such power in his possession and stood to his feet before walking over to Naruto.

"Hey dobe, give me that sword. I will use it's power to take vengeance on my brother and restore the Uchiha clan to it's former glory," Sasuke proudly said with his hand sticking out ready to receive the powerful looking sword. Hikari sighed in the space and shook her head in disappointment.

"_Great. Another self-righteous avenger who thinks he's all that. Man, people like that pop up everywhere every year or so. It's such a sad state to be in," _Hikari said to herself, but Naruto still heard it and smirked. Naruto turned his gaze back to Sasuke and shook his head.

"Get lost Duckbutt. This is my sword and it will never accept you as it's rightful owner," Naruto said to him. Sasuke seethed which caused Sakura to jump in and defend her crush. Sakura marched up to Naruto while cracking her knuckles.

"Naruto-baka, give Sasuke-kun that sword right now. He'll be able to use it better than you ever could," Sakura said to him. Naruto rolled his eyes while Hikari groaned from the presence of Naruto's teammates.

"_Naruto-sama, a fangirl? Really? You must really have some bad luck to have a fangirl on your team. It's quite a shame," _Hikari said while Naruto tried once again to stifle a laugh of Hikari's jokes on his teammates. Naruto turned to Sakura and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Yeah well Sakura here is the thing. I will say this nice and slow so you can follow perfectly. N...O!" Naruto said slowly for her. Sakura response was to try to hit Naruto over the head again, but that plan was sent out the window when Naruto managed to sidestep the punch and appear behind Sakura effectively surprising, Sasuke, Sakura, Himself, and Kyuubi. Naruto widened his eyes as he had never been able to move like that, not even during his mission in Wave country was he that fast.

"Hikari-chan, do you mind explaining this to me?" Naruto asked her in a low voice so Sasuke and Sakura couldn't hear him. Hikari gave a devious grin that could match Kyuubi's when they wanted something to be good and funny.

"_Well Naruto-sama, it sort of happened last night. When you touched me, your body started to undergo a sort of change. Your muscles are now more toned, your intelligence was boosted, your endurance was enhanced. Your body was quite unfit before so I had to make some adjustments to it. Now with your body this way, you are able to use one of the many techniques that you will unlock throughout your journey as the Kitsune Champion. This technique is the first stage of four part stage technique. It is called **Muga no Kyouchi( State of Self-Actualization)**. This technique shrouds your entire body in my white aura and doubles everything you have, your jutsu, your power...everything, however when it finishes then you will receive a fair amount of exhaustion from it. Use the technique wisely cause with your current skill level you can only use it three times before being completely exhausted," _Hikari advised. Naruto nodded with a smile since Hikari explained it to him. Naruto backed away from Sakura and leaned on the bridge railing while waiting for Kakashi.

"So does either of you want to try and take my partner again?" Naruto said with a glare that made them both not want to try. Naruto smirked and closed his eyes decided to say hi to someone.

_**Naruto's Mindscape**_

Naruto appeared in seemed to be an underground tunnel with multiple passages. Naruto could hear a distant roar from one of them and grinned since he found what he was looking for. Naruto entered the room to see the large cage holding the Kyuubi behind it. Naruto gave a simple smile and waved while Kyuubi narrowed her eyes at the blond who finally came to visit.

"Never thought I'd be able to meet you so soon Kyuubi-chan," Naruto said to her. Kyuubi glared and Naruto and gave a low growl before turning her gaze from him which caused the blond to frown.

"**Hmph I would say that the feeling was mutual, but even I hate to lie so I won't. And don't think you can start calling me 'Kyuubi-chan' just cause I agreed to help you and your partner out with this whole saving the world thing. It all leaves a bad taste in my mouth as the queen of the demons," **Kyuubi said to her jailor. Naruto chuckled and leaned on one of the bars separating him from her. Naruto wasn't sure why he was compelled to do this, but he just decided he needed to trust someone other than Hikari and he could talk to Kyuubi any time so why not try and make something work for them both.

"I guess you would feel like that. Nearly all my life I was called what you are, but I know I'm not. Kyuubi even though we haven't really talked or done anything since...well now I would like to say sorry," Naruto said surprising the vixen since that was the last thing she expected from her jailor. Kyuubi narrowed her eyes at Naruto trying to figure out his little game since she knew that no one changes their views on a person that fast. Naruto's life was living proof of that.

"**What are you playing at boy? Not that I'd apologize ever to you, but shouldn't this be the other way around?" **Kyuubi asked him. Naruto shrugged his shoulders before standing to his feet. Naruto took a few deep breaths and past the bars protecting him from Kyuubi which astounded the fox demon. Naruto simply walked up to her and placed his hand over her nose and gave it a soft pat and rub. Kyuubi didn't know why, but she wasn't trying to attack him. She knew that he was within her reach and she could conquer him and get out so why wouldn't she?

"Kyuubi-chan, I don't know what it's like to be a demon. I definitely know what it's like to be called one, but I'm sorry that you suffered such a fate and have to live with a failure of a shinobi like me," Naruto said berating himself a bit. Kyuubi's glare softened as she cursed the way he did his apology. Not even she could stay mad at that. Kyuubi gritted her teeth and mentally tried to steel herself through the meaningful apology, but it really wasn't working well for her at all. Kyuubi sighed while looking at her container.

"**Stop berating yourself Kit. It's unbefitting for the human who holds the queen of the demons. Don't take it personally, but my relationships with you humans is a strained one and being in this situation has strained it a lot more, but it isn't your fault I guess. I'm sorry too," **Kyuubi said putting the last part in an extra low voice. Naruto's eyes suddenly gleamed as he turned to Kyuubi with his smile in full bloom in front of her.

"What did you say Kyuubi-chan?" Naruto asked her in eagerness. Kyuubi mentally cursed that she had to say the two most accursed that took breath from her mouth again.

"**I'm sorry," **Kyuubi said in a little louder voice, but Naruto still couldn't hear it though how he couldn't since he was in front of a giant fox was anyone's guess. Naruto cupped his ear while facing Kyuubi for one more clarification.

"What was that Kyuubi-chan?" Naruto asked with a devious grin across his face. Kyuubi's eye twitched in annoyance of her jailor as she knew he would live this moment up for as long as he could. Kyuubi really did have more than half a mind to maul the blond boy right in front of her, but she knew it was the right thing to do, even if it did make her sick to her stomach for saying such words again.

"**Oh Kami Kit, I said I'm sorry! I'm sorry that your life was a living hell because of me! I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you and your village and I'm sorry that your alone! I'm just sorry okay?" **Kyuubi said nearly yelling with a slightly growing blush going across her face. Naruto gave the biggest grin of his life and simply crashed into Kyuubi's nose trying his best to give her a hug. Kyuubi sighed and simply accepted the kind of sickening gesture since she didn't find it so bad. Naruto released himself from Kyuubi after the hug and turned to her.

"Is there a possibility that we can be friends? I'd like to know more about the Queen of the Demons," Naruto said to her. Kyuubi turned her eyes to avoid Naruto's gaze while the blond lowered his eyes to the watery bottom in some sadness and disappointment.

"Well that's alright I guess. We just met so I don't think you'd take kindly to me already," Naruto said as he turned to leave. Kyuubi's gaze turned to his retreating form from the cage and gritted her teeth while her claws clenched in her confined space.

"**Fine Kit. I'll take the benefit of the doubt and give you a shot. As I told you, I don't necessarily like you humans and I don't trust you as far as I can throw you which is VERY far by the way, however I'll admit that your not like most humans so I'll give you a shot. Don't ruin it. Once you lose my trust, you will not get it back ever again. Got it?" **Kyuubi asked him still wondering why she was going through this with her container. Naruto turned around and smiled with a definite nod while he pumped a fist in the air.

"I promise not to lose your trust Kyuubi-chan. I'll show you that I'm not like those who only deceive and betray others. Thank you for trusting me," Naruto told her. Kyuubi snorted, but more as a simple 'yeah sure or whatever' to his statement.

"**If you really want to thank me then at least let me have access to your senses Kit. It's dull being in this damn cage with nothing to do at least let me see and smell the world again," **Kyuubi said more as a whine than a command. Naruto chuckled while Kyuubi glared at him.

"Aww does Kyuubi-chan what to be out of her cage?" Naruto asked with the full intent on teasing the Queen of Demons. Kyuubi stared to glare ice daggers at the boy, but couldn't since she found the joke slightly funny even if she didn't show the expression on her face.

"**Hmph, don't be mean Kit. I'm not asking for much here," **Kyuubi said to him. Naruto sheepishly chuckled while rubbing the back of his head as he approached the humongous vixen. Naruto looked at the seal that kept her cage in check and elevated himself to the top. He took a small piece of the seal and was about to tear it before turning to Kyuubi.

"Here is my way of saying I trust you. From now on I hope to work well with you Kyuubi-chan," Naruto said as he tore a small piece of the seal off. Kyuubi gave a small smile and took a big whiff of the air outside.

"**Ahh that smells nice. I guess your not a bad Kit after all. Alright then, stay in telepathic contact with me if you want to talk, but not now. I want to sleep," **Kyuubi said before curling into a ball. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the giant fox and could only mutter words like 'lucky' or 'that fox has the sweetest deal right now'. All the inner comments made Kyuubi chuckle as her container left her alone. Kyuubi opened one eye to see he was gone and gave a small smile again.

"**Yep...not a bad Kit after all," **Kyuubi said as she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

_**Outside the Mindscape**_

Naruto opened his eyes just in time to see Kakashi standing on the bridge railing while looking at his three genin.

"Yo," He said which caused Sakura to yell at him for being late while making the three guys wince from her voice.

"Come on Sakura calm down. I have just nominated you all for the Chunin exams," Kakashi said while handing them three slips of paper. Naruto and Sasuke's eyes gleamed, but Sakura's were a little unsettled since she wasn't really confident in her skills as a kunoichi.

"Report to the Exam Hall at 9:00 sharp," Kakashi said with an eyesmile before disappearing from view. Naruto smirked and walked off leaving Sakura and Sasuke to their own vices.

"Finally a chance to show what I'm made of. Look out Chunin exams your about to get hit by a maelstrom named Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto said before passing a clothes store. Naruto looked at his current attire and sighed since he did tell Hikari that he would get some new clothes and get out of the orange 'monstrosity' that Hikari said it was.

Naruto entered the clothes store and it surprised him that he wasn't with any glares so he simply decided not to waste this advantage and quickly went through the clothes stores. Naruto looked around and grabbed a black jacket with a red swirl on the back along with orange stripes on the shoulders. He should be allowed to have some kind of orange even if it was a little right?

"_Alright now for some pants and some new kunai and shuriken sets,"_ Naruto thought as he looked around. Naruto quickly took 4 shuriken sets and 3 kunai sets. He also found some black anbu pants that were his perfect size. They were fitted comfortably around his waist and held hidden spaces for any standard shinobi to use in battle for an advantage. Naruto looked around one more time before taking some civilian clothes for everyday use and things like that. And last, He took one more pair of the same jacket and pants and took the bundle to the register.

"Please ring this up sir," Naruto asked him. The man spared a glance and Naruto and shrugged his shoulders while he scanned everything. The man wasn't oblivious to the names the blond was called, but he was a neutral standpoint. For him, Naruto was simply a shinobi doing his duty. He wasn't going to overcharge the boy or kick him out, but it wasn't any special exceptions either. To the man, demon or not, money was money and he needed it. Having finished everything the man turned to Naruto with the same lazy look on his face.

"The total cost of everything here is 6,556.50 yen," The man said to him. Naruto nodded with a grin and pulled out his wallet the pay for everything. Naruto gave the man his money and left with his bags in his hands. It didn't take long for him to unload all of his things in his apartment before setting out again.

"Let's see what do I do now?" Naruto wondered, but turned his head to see a small kid along with a clown masked dude and a good looking girl with a battle fan. Naruto sighed as he walked over to the little scuffle between them.

"Kankuro stop it, he's just a kid. Your gonna get us in trouble," the fan girl said to him.

"Shut up Temari. I'm gonna show this kid how to respect his elders," Kankuro while pulling his fist back, but stopped when everyone heard a voice.

"Hey Konohamaru, it seems your in trouble again," Naruto said with a smile. Konohamaru suddenly smiled as he looked at his idol and rival.

"Boss," he said while Naruto turned his gaze to the other two people.

"I don't think you'll be doing good by hitting the Hokage's grandson," Naruto said which made Kankuro gasp along with Temari. Temari glared at Kankuro, but not before knocking the clown upside the head.

"Dammit Kankuro I told you. See what the hell you almost did," Temari said with Kankuro about to protest, but was stopped by a pebble and thus dropping Konohamaru to the ground. Naruto turned his gaze to see Sasuke upside down on a tree branch and smirked.

"Nice to see you too Teme. Please stop trying to show off," Naruto said before glancing a bit to his right.

"Though you should watch out for others," Naruto said to him. Ever since he got the boost from Hikari, Naruto felt so many different things. Naruto could better sense people who he normally couldn't. He could see farther, hear better, and even think better than when he didn't have her with him. Sasuke turned his head to se a redhead with a gourd on his back and a tattoo on his head that read 'love' on it. The kid turned a glare to Kankuro making the boy gulp.

"Kankuro stop this stupidity at once. Your a disgrace to Suna," he said while the other boy seemed nearly speechless.

"B-But Gaara this brat-,"

"Shut up or I'll kill you," He said before he shunshined and appeared between his teammates.

"I'm sorry for his behavior what is your name?" He asked as Sasuke stood forward.

"I am Sasuke Uch-,"

"Not you, the blond who sensed me in the tree a few minutes go," Gaara said while Naruto walked up.

"It's polite to offer your name before asking for others," Naruto said with a simple shrug. Gaara glared at the blond, but in the end he nodded and spoke.

"I am Sabaku no Gaara, now who are you?" He asked with a bit of haste in his voice that Naruto picked up on.

"I am Naruto Uzumaki. I take it your here for the Chunin exams?" Naruto asked him. Gaara nodded while Naruto turned to the blond next to him.

"And who's the hottie next to you?" Naruto asked while Temari blushed and Kankuro seethed.

"Hey that's my sister your talking about," Kankuro said which earned him a slap on the head.

"Shut up Kankuro, he only wanted my name. Sorry, I am Sabaku no Temari and this is my brother, Sabaku no Kankuro. Nice to meet you cutie," Temari said with a slight wink. Naruto chuckled and turned to Gaara. Naruto narrowed his eyes since thanks to Hikari he felt something evil about the boy, but underneath the evil he saw something else. Seeing that made Naruto smile while Gaara turned to leave.

"I look forward to fighting you in the Chunin exams Naruto Uzumaki," Gaara said as he and his team left. Naruto gave a small grin before connecting to Hikari.

"Hey Hikari-chan, I think I just found my first warrior," Naruto said with an excited grin. Hikari chuckled while looking at the retreating Gaara kid that Naruto just talked to.

"_So Naruto-sama, you think he'll fight with you?"_

"Yes I do Hikari-chan, there is something about him. I don't know what it is, but it's like despite his cold demeanor and evil presence, I can feel some sort of light fall off him. I definitely think he would be good," Naruto said with a smile.

"_Well then Naruto-sama, if you fight him, go test him out and confirm your suspicions about him. I'll be at your ready use whenever you want,"_ Hikari said before cutting the connection. Naruto smirked while turning to leave and spared a glance at an irritated Sasuke before turning back to the road in front of him.

"This is gonna be fun," Naruto said before disappearing from view.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Exam Hall**_

Naruto walked towards the Exam Hall for the chunin exams after his encounter with Gaara as he joined up with his teammates. Sakura and Sasuke watched Naruto show up and awed his new clothes instead of the orange mass that he used to wear. Due to being asked on countless dates by Naruto, Sakura could only come to the delusional conclusion that the blond idiot was trying to look cool in front of her and drag her away from Sasuke.

"Hey dobe, it seems you actually have some fashion sense in your tiny, little brain," Sasuke said doing his best to mess with Naruto. He, however, didn't get his desired reaction as Naruto passed him and Sakura without so much of a word only offering a glare that made Sasuke shut his mouth. Sakura, unfortunately, wasn't so bright for the smartest kunoichi and decided to say something also.

"Naruto-baka what's with those clothes? I already told you I won't go out with you. Stop trying to draw me away from Sasuke-kun, you will never be as good as him," Sakura yelled until both saw Naruto stop in mid step of some stairs he was walking. Naruto sighed and turned to the pink howler monkey of a teammate and decided to make a certain fact known and make it known now.

"Listen up Sakura. I'm not the same idiot that you think I am. I might have had a crush on you, but unlike you I see someone for who they really are, so if you'll do me a favor and shut up I'll appreciate it," Naruto said before walking up the stairs leaving a shocked Sakura and Sasuke behind. Sasuke and Sakura snapped out of their stupor and followed Naruto up the stairs until they saw a crowd of people yelling at two kids who were guarding it. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the two and decided to ask for some help from his new friend.

"Hey Kyuubi-chan, do you sense anything wrong with this picture?" Naruto muttered so as not to arouse suspicion. Kyuubi stirred and turned a tired eye to the events that Naruto was talking about before closing it back in a groan of low level techniques.

"**It's just a stupid genjutsu trick Kit. Your not of the third floor yet. Your still on the second. Man the lot of these humans are so damn stupid," **Kyuubi said with a huff before disconnecting from Naruto. Naruto raised an eyebrow, but paid it no mind and passed all of the genin without much fuss and walked up the stairs, but then cursed as he forgot he had an egotistical teammate.

"Hey drop the damn genjutsu. This is only the second floor. We still need to go up a floor," Sasuke said with a arrogant grin while people figured it out until someone pointed at Naruto.

"Then you should follow your teammate, he's obviously the only capable one since he figured it out," one of them said while Naruto slightly blushed. He couldn't really take all that credit, but it made it worth it to see Sasuke grit his teeth and a few questionable glares. Suddenly a boy in a weird jumpsuit came up to Sasuke and Sakura while Naruto decided to go back down and talk to the genin who obviously had even worse fashion sense than him.

"Hello, you are Sasuke Uchiha correct? Then let us have a match," the genin said which caused Sasuke to smirk at the ignorance of the man.

"Who the hell are you?" Sasuke asked which made the strangely dressed boy gave a thumbs up and a sparkling smile.

"I am Rock Lee. I am here to prove that a genius can be defeated by a person who excels at hard work," Lee said. Sasuke grinned then laughed slightly finding the weird guy to be both ignorant and funny.

"You know I'm an Uchiha and yet you till wish to fight me? Your quite bold to want to face me," Sasuke said as they went to a single sparing room. Naruto decided to watch the fight since he felt he could get a read on someone he might want as a warrior.

Sasuke closed his eyes for a few seconds then opened them to show the prized dojutsu, the Sharingan. Lee narrowed his eyes at the intimidating sight of the dojutsu that made people grovel at the feet of the Uchiha.

"So that's the sharingan. I hope you will give me a good workout," Lee said to him. Sasuke smirked as he launched himself at Lee and let out a punch, but gasped when he didn't hit anything. Sasuke turned his head fast to see Lee behind him and widened his eyes.

"_What the hell? How is he this fast?" _Sasuke wondered before getting kick into the air. Sakura gasped along with Naruto while Lee appeared behind Sasuke and unwrapped his bandages.

"It seems you are too weak Sasuke Uchiha. I thought you'd be more of a challenge," Lee said as he was nearly finished with his technique, but was stopped by what looked to be a...talking turtle.

"Lee how could you try to use that move! I must inform your sensei about this," the turtle said while Lee paled. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke raised an eyebrow at what the turtle meant, but soon smoke appeared and out of it came an overgrown Lee with...with...massive eyebrows that made team seven widen their eyes in disgust.

"_Sweet mother of Kami. What the hell is up with those eyebrows?" _Naruto asked mentally which caused Hikari and Kyuubi to look at what he was talking about. Hikari gasped while Kyuubi twitched an eyebrow.

"_That's not normal/**That's not normal**," _The sentient being and kitsune vixen thought simultaneously.

"Hey everybody are ya feelin' the youth?" He asked as Lee bowed his head to the man.

"Gai-sensei it is good to see you," Lee said, but was interrupted by a punch that sent him flying into the wall. Naruto rubbed the bridge of his nose while wondering what the hell these people were doing. Sasuke and Sakura wondered the same thing while they watched the jonin walk over to Lee.

"Lee you fool. How could you use that technique? I told you not to unless I approved of it," Gai said reprimanding his look-alike. Lee bowed his head and gave a cry.

"Gai-sensei, I'm so sorry I shouldn't have disobeyed you," Lee said crashing into Gai's arm in a hug. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura paled while the two men, if they could be considered that, give each other the hug.

"It's okay, but you disobeyed me. You will run 50 laps around Konoha on your hands and I'm gonna join you,"

"Yes Gai-sensei, I have learned my lesson,"

"Lee,"

"Gai-sensei,"

"Lee,"

"Gai-sensei,"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!" Everyone gasped too much as they saw a sunset genjutsu appear with both of the men in a very awkward hug that made Naruto, Kyuubi, and Hikari mentally lose it.

"**MY EYES! MY BEAUTIFULLY RED, SLITTED EYES! TURN AWAY KIT TURN AWAY!" **Kyuubi yelled for her container to get out of the genjutsu before her eyes melted from their sockets. Hikari remained silent for a little while longer before giving her input.

"_That might be the one thing that could drive the darkness away faster than even I could. It's a most terrifying genjutsu," _Hikari said as Naruto snapped out of the genjutsu as the two guys let go. Naruto dropped to the floor and shuddered while talking to Kyuubi.

"Suppress it Kyuubi-chan. Suppress it NOW!" Naruto yelled while Kyuubi immediately got to work on destroying the memory from Naruto's mind so that it would never be seen again. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief while Sasuke nursed his wounded pride with some unneeded help from Sakura.

Team seven soon left Gai and Lee to their own vices and walked up to the door to see Kakashi waiting for them. Kakashi gave them an eyesmile and walked up to them.

"So it seems that all of you are here," Kakashi said while Naruto raised an eyebrow at the reason for their sensei being here.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked him. Kakashi turned his gaze to Naruto and smiled.

"Well I just wanted to see if all of you had the guts to come here. If all three of you didn't come here, well...you would have been disqualified. You succeed together or you fail together," Kakashi said while Naruto and Sasuke unconsciously turned to Sakura. Sakura felt her world crumble under their gazes, but didn't say anything.

"Well we're all here so there's nothing to worry about," Naruto said lifting up Sakura's spirits if only slightly. Kakashi nodded and stepped aside allowing the team access to the doors.

"Well you three. Go in there and show everyone what team seven is made of," Kakashi told them. All three nodded and watched as Kakashi disappeared. Naruto smirked as the three walked inside towards the chunin exams. All three were suddenly met with sharp gazes that made them wince at the low level KI from the fellow competitors.

"Man there sure are a lot of people here. I wonder what's going to happen," Sakura said before seeing Naruto shaking. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the blond figuring that Naruto couldn't handle the pressure. Sasuke nearly sneered that he thought Naruto was going to bring them down due to his cowardice, but suddenly Naruto shot up with a grin that could have made any eccentric person proud.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm gonna beat the crap out of each and every single late one of you people," Naruto said as he pointed at everyone. Everyone narrowed their eyes at him while Sakura face-palmed herself and Sasuke smirked. Kyuubi had to chuckle at her containers brash attitude since she was like that herself. Hikari chuckled at the thought of having such a master like Naruto willing to challenge everyone. It was all a good sign.

"Man, so troublesome. Could you be anymore loud?" a certain lazy genius said rubbing the back of his head with a yawn. Naruto chuckled while he turned to the boy.

"Nice to see you two Shikamaru. I didn't think you'd be here. Let me guess, your mother persuaded you?" Naruto asked him. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and simply shrugged his shoulders.

"You hit the dot right on the head Naruto. It's all to damn troublesome to me," Shikamaru said while Naruto sighed.

"Hang in there buddy," Naruto said as he turned his head to see Sakura and a blonde girl fighting over Sasuke and a fat...uhhh...big boned kid eating some potato chips.

"Hey Choji, still eating?" Naruto asked, but Choji didn't hear him over the sound of crunching chips. Naruto sweatdropped, but ignored it when he heard three more people coming over.

"Well it looks like everyone's here," Shikamaru said looking at team eight. Kiba, Hinata, and Shino nodded while everyone engaged in casual talk before a silver haired man came over.

"You guys are so damn dense. Don't you know how tense everyone is?" He asked them with most of the group looking at the intense stares of people. Sasuke smirked, but narrowed his eyes towards the new participant.

"Who the hell are you?" Sasuke asked while the man adjusted his glasses and gave a slight bow to the rookies.

"I'm Kabuto Yakushi. I've taken the Chunin exams before so I thought I'd help the rookies out," Kabuto said to them. Everyone raised an eyebrow, but only Naruto had to be suspicious since he got some information from Kyuubi and Hikari.

"**Kit be careful. That guy isn't normal. His chakra feels sinister and he smells of snakes. Stay away from him," **Kyuubi said with Hikari putting her sense into the warning also.

"_I agree with Kyuubi Naruto-sama. That Kabuto man has a horrid and vile nature. If I didn't know better I'd say he was likely the cause of the darkness, but I'm sure something more sinister is out there,"_ Hikari said giving her warning also. Naruto took both warnings into account before turning his gaze back to the 'genin'.

"Well I can give you information on people in this tournament. I'm sure you have someone you want to know about," Kabuto said holding out a stack of cards. Sasuke smirked and came forward.

"I want Sabaku no Gaara and Rock Lee," Sasuke said as everyone switched their gazes to him. Kabuto slightly pouted and took up two cards.

"Aww you know their names. That's no fun," Kabuto said before applying chakra to the cards while the appropriate information came in.

"Let's see. Sabaku no Gaara, his teammates are Sabaku no Temari and Sabaku no Kankuro. He's done 3 C-rank missions, 5 B-rank missions and 3 A-rank missions and 1 S-ranked mission. Apparently in all of them he hasn't gotten one scratch on him in any of his mission," Kabuto stated unnerving the genin slightly. Naruto's face gleamed at those words. Gaara really sounded tough and a perfect candidate to be recruited into Naruto's group.

"Yep, no doubt about it. I want Gaara on my team. I know he'll join. I'm not sure how I can convince him, but I'll get him to join," Naruto said to himself which caused Hikari to chuckle. Kabuto pulled out the next card and read the information.

"Next is Rock Lee. His teammates are Tenten and Neji Hyuuga. He's done 25 D-rank missions and 3 C-rank missions. Apparently he is the strongest taijutsu genin in Konoha. It's astounding," Kabuto said while Sasuke smirked at receiving the information that could ensure his next victory against the oddly dressed genin.

Suddenly everyone was brought to attention when a man with a bandana on his head came in with a group of what appeared to be chunin and few jonin.

"Alright sit down and shut the hell up. My name is Ibiki. I am your proctor for this part of the exam. Don't try start to cry after you fail," Ibiki said with a grin that made everyone shudder. Naruto and the other rookies all went to their seats while some chunin scattered into seats surrounding the groups. Everyone felt the pressure from being watched before Ibiki explained the rules.

"Alright I will explain the rules. This will be a written exam. There is to be NO cheating. Anyone caught cheats five times will fail these exams. There is a total of nine questions. After a set time a tenth question will be given. Try to survive during that time," Ibiki said with a devious grin and passed out the papers. After everyone was given their papers, Ibiki looked at the clock and smirked.

"Begin," Ibiki yelled. The clock started and everyone began writing. Sasuke found the purpose to the test easy and simply copied the person in front of him with his sharingan. Sakura had a bit more trouble, but she wasn't the top kunoichi in Konoha for nothing it was mainly because of her book smarts that she was able to do well. Naruto on the other hand, wasn't doing so well.

"_Dammit, I'm screwed. I hate written exams. How the hell am I supposed to do this? I'm gonna fail. What the hell am I going to do now?" _Naruto yelled out mentally as he gripped his head. For Kyuubi and Hikari, watching squirm was slightly funny, but they weren't going to let him suffer, well Hikari wasn't. Kyuubi simply would have helped since Naruto was her first friend in a long time.

"**Alright Kit, I'll help you out. I'm sure me and Hikari can do this exam easily. Let us take a glance at the exam," **Kyuubi told him. Naruto nodded and held up his exam paper slightly so Kyuubi and Hikari could see the questions.

"**Okay question one, if a kunai normally travels at 35 mph, and the target is 1.5 miles away, at what speed would a person need throw it for the kunai to reach target C at 2 miles?" **Kyuubi said repeating the question on the paper. Hikari adopted a thinking pose for a few minutes and contemplated the question along with Kyuubi while Naruto waited for them to answer.

"_Doesn't some of that depend on the type of shinobi throwing the weapon? Also take in the time of battle then state of conscious activity and the type of affinity they have._

"**Yes, but it's a normal shinobi. They didn't put anything else in this question so that answer should be 89 mph hour," **Kyuubi said and Naruto wrote that answer down. This rest of the team went down the same way until Naruto was finished. The blond jinchuuriki sighed as he only had three spare minutes left since Kyuubi and Hikari had an intense 'debate' over the answers to some of the questions.

" Number 12 fail. Numbers 45 and 63 fail," Ibiki hollered. Said team left the room in depression that they couldn't do better. Eight more teams were caught by Ibiki and his examiners. The last three minutes passed before Ibiki's gruff voice spoke again.

"Alright stop. Put your pens and pencils down. We will now begin the tenth question, but first I want to know if you want to attempt to answer this question," Ibiki said which made everyone look at him rather strangely.

"What do you mean? What happens if we don't answer it?" Sakura asked drawing Ibiki's stare and also his sadistic smile to her face. Sakura gulped since she felt she wasn't going to like the answer to her question.

"Well of course, you fail," Ibiki said like it was the simplest thing in the world to say to a bunch of chunin applicants.

"Well then of course we're going to take the question. Why wouldn't we?" Temari asked bringing Ibiki's gaze to her and the rest of the genin.

"However if you get this question wrong well you will stay genin for the rest of your natural lives," Ibiki said causing an uproar from everyone in the room.

"What the hell. That's completely unfair," Sakura screeched as did everyone else, but they were all silenced by Ibiki's KI and didn't say another word.

"Shut the hell up! My exam my rules. Your all just really unlucky to have me for a proctor this year," Ibiki told them. Everyone, reluctantly, nodded and quieted down. Soon after, ten more teams left the room due to weakhearted teammates. Everyone tensed under Ibiki, until they saw the man with a smile.

"_Looks like that's it," _Ibiki said before uttering his new news to the groups of people.

"Good job everyone. You pass," Ibiki said completely making everyone widened their eyes and drop their jaws at him.

"What do you mean we pass? What about the tenth question?" Sakura asked which caused Ibiki to chuckle.

"There was no tenth question. That was to test your resolve to become chunin. The others who are failed weren't ready for the difficult task of becoming chunin. The written portion was simply to test your information gathering skills. It made you need to cheat to pass. In the shinobi world information is crucial-," Ibiki stopped for a second and undid his bandana to show countless battle scars and wounds. Everyone gasped, but stayed quiet as Ibiki continued.

"A person will not always have the luxury of choosing their missions. Those who would rather avoid combat and have their men live to fight another day, well...they will never be called shinobi not as long as I'm here. However, that isn't the case, you all made it and came go with your heads held high," Ibiki said causing cheers to erupt from everyone in the room. Naruto chuckled and thanked Kyuubi and Hikari for their help in the test.

"**Think nothing of it Kit. It adds fulfillment to my boring life in this cage," **Kyuubi said before going back to sleep. Naruto chuckled then made a mental note to change that mindscape for his friend since the queen of demons didn't deserve to be in a damp sewer though some people might disagree.

Suddenly a giant clothe came through the door surprising everyone in the room as they stuck to the floor and ceiling while holding up a banner along with a purple haired woman in a trench coat.

"Hello Gakis. I'm the single and sexy Anko Mitarashi at your service. You haven't seen anything yet now follow me to the next stage of the exams!" Anko yelled while she pumped her fist into the air. Everyone sweatdropped while Naruto chuckled until Ibiki came from behind the curtain of the banner.

"Your still early," Ibiki said causing Anko to give an embarrassed chuckle. She suddenly looked around the room and groaned at the sight of so many people still left.

"Damn Ibiki 34 people made it? Your losing your touch," Anko said to him. Ibiki shrugged his shoulders with a sigh before turning back to the rest of the people.

"Either that or we have a stronger batch this year," Ibiki proudly stated. Anko smirked with a nod, before that smirk turned deadly.

"Well when I'm done, more than half of this group will be dead," Anko said getting the desired reaction which was to scare the living hell out of everyone.

"Alright Gaki, you've had it easy, but not anymore. Follow me to Training ground #44. Those who are late will fail," Anko said jumping out of the crater in the wall. Everyone soon followed out while Ibiki collected the paper. Ibiki stopped at Naruto's paper and could only smile.

"This is the dead last? He got every answer correct. Maybe there's more to him than anyone knows. Naruto Uzumaki...an interesting boy," Ibiki said before leaving.

_**Training Ground #44**_

Anko arrived at the field with plenty of time to spare and decided to have some tea and dango before having her 'fun' with the applicants. After about thirty minutes, people began to arrive as Anko held up some sheets of paper.

"What the hell are these?" someone asked her. Anko smirked while holding up the forms.

"These are your regulation forms. They state that if you die during the Chunin exams, then Konoha isn't responsible for the incident. It's used to avoid war," Anko said to them all. Everyone nodded and began to fill out the forms until Anko collected each slip of paper then put them away in a safe pile.

"Alright then, let's get started this is training ground #44 of Konoha's training facility or as we like to call it, The Forest of Death," Anko said with a sadistic smile. Everyone silently gulped while Anko turned her head to see Naruto muttering to himself most likely talking to Hikari or Kyuubi. Anko suddenly got a gleam in her eye and threw a kunai at the blond wanting to pierce his cheek in order to scare the others.

"_Naruto-sama, look out for the kunai!" _Hikari warned as Naruto dodged the kunai with slight ease. Anko narrowed her eyes at him and threw another, but it still didn't hit while needless to say, she was getting frustrated. Anko shunshined behind Naruto with another kunai in her hand, but stopped when she saw the tip of Naruto's sword aimed at her throat.

"Now Anko-san, why are you trying to hurt me?" Naruto asked her with a sly grin. Anko chuckled and rested her arm on Naruto's shoulder.

"Well it seems that you can handle yourself Gaki. I clearly underestimated you," Anko said with a grin. Naruto chuckled then narrowed his eyes at the snake mistress before speaking.

"Well you know underestimating someone can mean death. This is a clear case of that," Naruto said to her. Anko chuckled with a nod before both Naruto and Anko took out a kunai each and aimed them at the person behind Anko.

"Sorry to startle you. I just wanted to return your kunai," the woman said to Anko. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the woman while Anko thanked her and decided to put the kunai away. Naruto took his kunai away also and shrugged before Anko continued.

"The goal here is to make it to the center of the forest where there is a watch tower. You have five days to get there, but you must have a each of these," Anko said lifting up two scrolls.

"This is a heaven scroll and this is an earth scroll. One team will have one and the other team will have the other. The objective is to grab both scrolls and make it to the center. Oh and one more thing...DON'T open these scrolls till you make it to the watch tower," Anko said as more of an order than a suggestion. Everyone nodded and took to the gates.

"Begin," Anko said as the gates opened. People ran inside and team seven disappeared from view. Anko smirked as she leaned on top of the fence and took a bite of more dango. Suddenly she heard screams coming from the forest then smiled.

"Wow, that must be a new record for dying," Anko said with a shrug before leaving.

_**With Team Seven**_

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had just finished fighting off a group of Ame shinobi and went deeper into the forest before it got too dark.

"Man this place is creepy," Sakura said standing close to Sasuke. Naruto rolled his eyes at the act while the team rested on the ground.

"So what now? Should we wait till tomorrow to fight?" Naruto asked. Sasuke adopted a thinking pose before answering.

"We should be alright for right now. We will have one of us post the first watch and it will rotate every three hours until morning," Sasuke said to them. Naruto and Sakura nodded while Sasuke took the first shift. Naruto and Sakura slept on the ground while Sasuke watched the enormous trees swaying around.

_**2 hours later**_

Sasuke suddenly sensed a presence and saw the same woman that was in the conversation between Anko and Naruto. She had a sadistic look on her face before moving through some handsigns. The wind soon picked up as Sasuke shook Naruto and Sakura awake. All three barely made it out of the way of the wind and took to a thick tree branch.

"What the hell? Who is this lady?" Naruto asked while Hikari shivered.

"_Naruto-sama, be careful that person feels so vile. It makes the other person look sweet. I doubt that person is human anymore," _Hikari stated while Naruto gasped. The woman smirked and turned her gaze to Sasuke.

"My my Sasuke, are you running away? It's no wonder you can't defeat Itachi," the woman said which made Sasuke seethe and his sharingan flared. The woman gave a mock shocked expression before licking her long tongue through her lips.

"Oh my the sharingan. Magnificent. Truly magnificent. However, it's wasted on this pathetic village. Sasuke-kun, come with me and I can give you power," The woman said to him. Sasuke narrowed his eyes while Sakura seemed to scared to try and say anything. Naruto cursed, but this was as good a time as any to try his first fight with Hikari.

"_Remember Naruto-sama, you can only used **Muga no Kyouchi** three times before you are exhausted of your chakra. Each state lasts for about twenty minutes so make it count," _Hikari said to him. Naruto nodded fast and took out Hikari before charging at the woman.

"Sorry, but the teme isn't going with you or anyone else," Naruto said swinging Hikari at the woman. The woman countered with her own sword as Naruto gritted his teeth.

"_Damn, I don't really know anything about swords so I'm not sure how to go about this,"_ Naruto thought, but was interrupted by Hikari.

"_Naruto-sama, use the technique. It will give you a brief ability to use me effectively. When you survive you should find a teacher. Of course I could teach you, but not the best way. Could you teach him Kyuubi?"_ Hikari asked. Kyuubi sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

"**I guess so. I'm not much of a sword fanatic, but I can give him training against at least Chunin level opponents after that he needs a master," **Kyuubi said which Naruto nodded. Due to their individual weight, the woman easy dispatched Naruto into a tree as the blond dropped with a hard thud.

"Well someone's eccentric. Wait your turn Kyuubi brat," She spoke. Naruto slowly stood to his feet while Sasuke and Sakura thought he was insane for fighting someone clearly out of their league.

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto asked. The woman chuckle and gave all three an intense KI that made them all unable to move.

"I am Orochimaru, one of the three legendary Sannin," Orochimaru said with a sinister chuckle. Naruto raised an eyebrow before Kyuubi explained that he was an ex-Konoha shinobi, but was caught doing sinister experiments on human people and animals. She also told him an interesting fact that made Naruto wince.

"Your known to target little boys?" Naruto asked the snake sannin. Orochimaru's eyebrow twitched while even in the situation Sasuke and Sakura had to laugh at the joke. Orochimaru seethed and drew his sword before charging at Naruto.

"I've had enough of you insolent mouth," Orochimaru said looking for a death blow. Naruto struggled to his feet and gave a hidden smirk as his sword started to glow.

"_Alright then. Let's try it out. **Muga no Kyouchi**_," Naruto said mentally as the sword glowed brighter and bathed him in an small white aura that even made Orochimaru gasp. Sasuke and Sakura stared at the aura surrounding Naruto and physically settled down. It felt so calm and reassuring that the KI from Orochimaru started to disappear. Naruto gripped his sword tightly before turning back to Orochimaru.

"Alright then Hebi-teme, show me how a real Sannin fights," Naruto said as he charged Orochimaru with his new found power. Orochimaru smirked, but it didn't last long as Naruto instantly disappeared from view. Everyone gasped before they heard a hard clash come from the middle of the field. Naruto smirked while Orochimaru narrowed his eyes at the power that Naruto possessed.

"_Kukuku, this child might actually be interesting," _Orochimaru thought as he felt the pressure of Naruto's technique. Naruto felt so incredible. He was literally on air. It's like was in complete peace with everything while fighting Orochimaru.

"Alright then, let's kick it up a notch," Naruto said as he pivoted his foot and tried to kick Orochimaru. Orochimaru easily dodged the kick, but a punch came twice as fast sending the sannin into a tree. Naruto turned to Sasuke and narrowed his eyes.

"Hey teme. I hope your not scared cause I could use some help here," Naruto said until he was kicked into another tree by Orochimaru. Naruto cursed as he felt the left side of his body shatter from that kick. Naruto breathed slowly as the light shifted to his left side and healed the injury. He soon turned back to see the sannin walking towards him. Naruto stood to his feet, but fell back down.

"W-What's going on?" Naruto wondered. Orochimaru smirked while inching towards Naruto.

"I messed up your center of balance Naruto-kun. You won't be standing straight for a while," Orochimaru said which made Naruto curse. Orochimaru was about to attack again, but was interrupted.

"**Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu," **Sasuke yelled as he sent the giant fireball at Orochimaru. Orochimaru easily dodged the shot before seeing Sasuke in front of Naruto.

"You really are a loser. Do I have to do everything?" Sasuke asked with a smirk. Naruto chuckled softly before standing to his feet and feeling slightly wobbly.

"Hey you were the one scared like a cat after that KI," Naruto said while Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. Sasuke took out a kunai and charged at Orochimaru while Naruto recovered his sense of balance. Sasuke let out a kick only to have it dodged by Orochimaru. The Uchiha decided to go a different route and flipped over the snake sannin while his sharingan blazed. Orochimaru took his eyes off Naruto for a few minutes to focus on Sasuke as the Uchiha threw a windmill at him. Orochimaru dodged to the side before Sasuke threw a second one. Orochimaru was getting bored with dodging and looked at Sasuke with a look of disappointment.

"Sasuke-kun is that all there is to your power?" Orochimaru asked, but narrowed his eyes when he saw Sasuke smirk. Orochimaru saw a string of wire that was connected to the windmill shuriken while Sasuke pulled on the wire slamming and trapping Orochimaru to a tree while Sasuke made the tiger seal.

"**Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu( Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique)," **Sasuke yelled as he sent a massive fire along the lines of wire and straight towards Orochimaru. Orochimaru smirked as he saw the incoming flames.

"That's the way Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru as he got hit head on by the fire which caused the tree to catch fire and start burning. Sasuke breathed heavily and glanced at Naruto who was feeling much better, but Sasuke gasped when he saw a long neck on Orochimaru aim for his neck. Sasuke couldn't rebound in time, but the strike didn't come as Sasuke opened his eyes to see Naruto with his foot planted into Orochimaru's face. Naruto huffed with a smirk before turning back to Sasuke.

"I think I made it just in time," Naruto said to him. Sasuke grinned with a nod before the two genin turned back to Orochimaru who came back clapping.

"Excellent you two. You far exceed my expectations. You both will make wonderful hosts," Orochimaru before a dark aura surrounded him. Sasuke narrowed his eyes while Naruto widened them.

"Oh please don't tell me," Naruto said while Hikari gasped.

"_It's him. He's that one that will bring the world to destruction through darkness. Naruto he is the one you have to beat," _Hikari said to him. Naruto mentally cursed his luck of finding the person he was supposed to fight. Naruto gripped his sword tighter before charing at Orochimaru, but he didn't get his desired result and was instantly sent flying by Orochimaru into a tree causing a small crater as the blond slumped to the floor. Sasuke gasped and appeared next to Naruto along with Sakura as the light around Naruto's body began to fade.

"Dammit, **Muga no Kyouchi **is ending. I can't waste it and we were barely winning before this. We need to get out of here," Naruto thought as he turned to Sasuke and Sakura.

"Guys we have to retreat. This guy is going to be the end of us. Let's get out of here," Naruto told them. Both nodded immediately and turned to see Orochimaru grinning at them before closing in on the team. Sakura reached into her pouch and threw four smoke bombs on the ground covering the team in smoke. Orochimaru raised an eyebrow while Naruto used the last remains of the **Muga no Kyouchi **to enhance his speed and get away from Orochimaru as fast as he could while carrying Sasuke and Sakura away. Orochimaru snickered as he felt their presence disappear fast and let the dark aura around him fade.

"Well I didn't get to mark Sasuke-kun. Oh well, I at least had a very good experience with that team. I'll have your body Sasuke-kun one way or the other," Orochimaru said before disappearing from view.

_**With Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura**_

Naruto huffed and appeared in a new location while dropping Sasuke and Sakura in the bushes. All three huffed while Naruto's white aura disappeared. Naruto instantly began breathing heavier while his muscles seemed strained. Naruto gave a painful chuckle.

"It's just like Hikari-chan said. Man, I'm so damn tired," Naruto said to himself before slumping to the ground. Sasuke and Sakura turned to see Naruto sleeping with sweat dropping down his face.

"Hmph it looks like Naruto-baka exhausted himself. What was he thinking going against an S-rank missing nin. What an idiot," Sakura said while Sasuke gritted his teeth at her insults.

"Sakura shut up!" Sasuke said effectively making Sakura gasped and close her mouth. Sasuke stared at Naruto and sat down.

"He saved our lives. I've always been the egotistical jerk, but Naruto has always looked out for us. I was so damn hardheaded. If Naruto hadn't saved me from that last strike I might be dead. Sakura, stop taking Naruto for granted. If it wasn't for him and if we were paired up with anyone else all three of us would be dead. I really hate to admit it, but...Naruto, this dobe, knows more about power than I do. He's shown me something different from what I was searching for. I'll attain my power the right way. If I meet Itachi, then I'll kill him and avenge my clan, but I won't dishonor my clan's name by leaving off in search of power no matter how power hungry my father was. I understand this much better now and I have the dobe...uhh...Naruto to thank for this. So Sakura, that's enough from your insults," Sasuke said to her. Sakura widened her eyes and turned to Naruto then nodded. Sasuke gave the slightest smile and laid down to follow Naruto's lead and went to sleep with Sakura staying guard for the next three hours.

_**Naruto's Mindscape**_

Naruto opened his eyes to see Hikari and Kyuubi in the sewer-like mindscape with him as Naruto strained to stand.

"Man you weren't kidding Hikari-chan, that move really takes a toll on you," Naruto said while Hikari chuckled with a nod.

"Still there is no denying that you stood a pretty good hot against that man. Though this turn of events bothers me," Hikari said to them. Naruto sighed and passed the bars along with Hikari as they stayed next to Kyuubi.

"So Orochimaru's the one to bring destruction? Then how is he this strong? Did he get his sword before me?" Naruto asked. Hikari wasn't sure if Naruto was right or wrong, but that power she felt was undoubtably evil. Very evil.

"**Well since you know it's him shouldn't that make this easier?" **Kyuubi asked. Hikari shook her head in a big negative.

"No, Naruto-sama had to use the **Muga no Kyouchi** just to keep up with Orochimaru. It was when the first was nearly gone that Orochimaru began to get serious. If Naruto-sama stayed, the he and you most certainly would have died," Hikari said causing Naruto to gulp and Kyuubi to narrow her eyes.

"Kyuubi-chan, do you have a better form to talk to? I think it would be better if all of us were around this height to talk better," Naruto told her. Kyuubi nodded and vanished for a second revealing a hot red haired woman in a black and red kimono. Kyuubi smirked at Naruto's stare, but coughed bringing his attention to her.

"**Is this any better?" **she asked. Naruto nodded dumbly before Kyuubi sat on the wet ground, but Naruto stood up.

"Hold on ladies," Naruto said before closing his eyes. Suddenly the scenery began to change into a beautiful meadow full of flowers and a pond along with some trees and a house off in the distance. Naruto opened his eyes and laid on the ground before looking at the two women's confused expressions.

"What? I didn't want my new friend to be staying in a wet sewer the whole time," Naruto said with a smile. Hikari turned a gaze to Kyuubi who only chuckled.

"**Thank you Kit. I appreciate it," **Kyuubi said with a slight bow. Naruto simply nodded before everyone continued with the conversation.

"So Naruto-sama, you believe you have found one warrior who will fight with you is that right?" Hikari asked. Naruto nodded fast with a smile and turned to her.

"I do. The red-headed boy Sabaku no Gaara. He's slightly twisted from what I felt and from what Kyuubi-chan told me, but I think he's a good choice. If he's anything like me then I can sympathize with him," Naruto responded. Hikari nodded before turning to Kyuubi.

"So Kyuubi, what do you know about kenjutsu?" Hikari asked bringing Naruto's attention to her as well. Kyuubi sighed before brushing her hand through her red hair.

"**As I said before, I don't know much. I only know enough for Kit to fight solid chunin level people. Beyond that, he needs a kenjutsu expert," **Kyuubi stated. Hikari sighed while Naruto looked at the ground.

"Hey, when I have my ten warriors will they be able to use the other forms also of **Muga no Kyouchi**?" Naruto asked.

"They can use all, but the last one. That last one is reserved only for you Naruto-sama. However, I have to tell you. Just because you can attain the final level, it doesn't mean that you will be able to beat the darkness. If anything it only brings you to a 50-50 chance of actually beating it," Hikari said with much truth in her voice.

"So if I went to fight Orochimaru again right now what is the percentage that I'd win?" Naruto asked. Hikari raised an eyebrow at the question, but in the end it didn't really matter.

"Without Kyuubi's chakra, I'd say you have a 1% chance of winning. Now with control of Kyuubi's chakra, you have a 10% chance of winning. So right now, the odds are completely against you," Hikari said while Naruto slumped.

"Gee thanks for the vote of confidence," Naruto said with a storm cloud hanging over him. Hikari chuckled along with Kyuubi while Naruto gave a small pout.

"It's not funny dammit," Naruto said to them. Both girls nodded slowly and came back to a serious face.

"**Well at least you got away from him. You also helped your teammate avoid a nasty hickey. I knew that guy had a thing for boys. It's always the genius types," **Kyuubi said which caused Naruto and Hikari to nod.

"Well Naruto-sama, you can only use **Muga no Kyouchi** two more times before your completely exhausted. After that it will take at least five days before you can use up to three again. Now, try to focus on the exams and keep your sense up and stay away from that snake guy," Hikari said more of a plead than an order. Naruto instantly nodded and disappeared leaving Hikari and Kyuubi in the newly renovated mindscape.

"**Well I'm gonna go take a nap in my new house," **Kyuubi said while walking off. Hikari sweatdropped, but disappeared also leaving an empty field.

_**Outside the Mindscape**_

Naruto slowly opened his eyes to see Sakura standing guard and Sasuke sleeping. Naruto managed to sit up, but grumbled about the pain for a bit before getting to his feet.

"Sakura, you can get some sleep. I'll take over now," Naruto said to her. Sakura was startled to see Naruto awake, but shook her head in a negative making Naruto raise an eyebrow.

"No Naruto, you and Sasuke-kun need to rest. I'll keep watch. I did nothing during that fight so this is the least I can do. Recover your strength so that we can all pass this damn hell of an exam," Sakura told him. Naruto wanted to retort, but didn't and simply went back to sleep not wanting to think about anything, but finding his warriors and defeating the darkness that would try to conquer the world.


	4. Chapter 4

_**2 Hours Later**_

Naruto slowly opened his eyes to see Sakura still keeping watch while reading a small book. He calmly stood to his feet and rubbed Sasuke's shoulder trying to get the Uchiha up and about. It worked since Sasuke squinted his eyes at the blond before getting up and rubbing his eyes slowly.

"How long were we out?" Sasuke asked. Naruto looked at the ground for a few seconds before facing the Uchiha again to give him his response.

"It's been two hours since that time. We only have four days left to finish this thing so we should move. Sakura's nearing her limit so we'll give her a soldier pill and then we will find the other scroll. After that, we'll head for the-," Naruto paused as he and Sasuke tensed. Both felt three chakra signatures heading for them and quickly regrouped with Sakura. Sakura was quite happy that Sasuke was awake and simply ignored Naruto, but the blond didn't really have the time to care. It really baffled him, one minute the banshee is being all nice and considerate the next she's back to that damn fangirl persona.

"**Kit, you can worry about her later, right now you have to fight," **Kyuubi spoke bringing Naruto from his thoughts. Naruto quickly nodded and turned to Sasuke.

"Sasuke, we have company. Get ready," Naruto told him. Sasuke nodded and took out a kunai while Sakura marched up to Naruto with her fists balled.

"Naruto, who made you the leader of this te-," Sakura didn't finish before she met the back end of Naruto's sword causing her to pass out. Sasuke raised an eyebrow as he watched Naruto carry Sakura into the opening tree grove and placed her there to rest. Naruto sighed and walked back out before spotting Sasuke's gaze on him.

"What? She needs rest and her voice is bound to bring every single shinobi on us. I'd rather not fight that many people just for a scroll," Naruto reasoned while Sasuke gave a confused nod. Both waited for about 3 minutes, before three sound nin came up to them, all smirking as the intensified their gazes on Naruto and Sasuke.

"Well at least we won't be bored," Naruto simply spoke while Sasuke gave a chuckle and revealed the sharingan to everyone. Naruto withdrew Hikari and got into a simple stance that he subconsciously knew about.

"Well it's time to exterminate an Uchiha for Orochimaru-sama. Zaku, Kin let's take them out now," a one eyed guy said to his partners.

"You got it Dozu. Let's kill these pieces of shit," Zaku said to them. Both nodded while Zaku charged Sasuke and Dozu charged Naruto. Naruto readied his sword before dodging an fist from Dozu. Naruto smirked that he succeeded, but it didn't last long before the blond fell to the floor and gripped his ears in pain.

"D-Dammit. How the hell did he-," Naruto stopped as the ringing in his ears intensified. Dozu smirked and lifted up his arm.

"My arm vibrates from sound. The high pitch frequency is too much for human ears and trust me it hurts like hell," Dozu said while Naruto steadily rose to his feet. Naruto knew he could still use **Muga no Kyouchi **two more times before having to wait, but he wanted to save it. For what he didn't know, but it was simply his intuition. Suddenly Naruto smirked as he tried to keep out of range from Dozu.

"Hikari-chan, Kyuubi-chan, how much chakra have I lost when I used the **Muga no Kyouchi**?" Naruto asked both while whispering so as not to let the enemy know of his plans.

"_I'd say about a quarter of it for right now Naruto-sama, why? What are you planning?" _Hikari asked her blond master since if unnerved her slightly. Naruto gave a foxy grin and decided to as his vixen friend for some help.

"Kyuubi-chan can you refill my chakra reserves? I only need enough to let me use one **Muga no Kyouchi," **Naruto asked her. Kyuubi softly stirred and gave an unpleasant groan before looking at the situation on the outside.

"**Alright Kit, I don't know what your planning, but go for it," **Kyuubi said adding her chakra to Naruto's reserves. Naruto grinned as he started to get his strength back before dodging another punch from Dozu.

"What the hell brat? Are you going to fight instead of running away?" Dozu yelled trying to goad Naruto on. Naruto narrowed his eyes and gripped his sword tighter as it began to glow. Hikari gasped along with Kyuubi as both realized what he was planning. To both it was ingenious that he could come up with such an idea. He had Kyuubi fill his reserves back to allow him to use the Muga no Kyouchi again like the first time only this time his reserves were back to normal so even if this one stopped he would still have two more before it was back down.

"**Muga no Kyouchi," **Naruto said as he was covered in the small white aura again. Dozu widened his eye at the act before he failed to realize that Naruto was behind him. Dozu gasped and swung his arm only for Naruto to intercept the fist with his sword and easily did a reverse backhand punch sending Dozu into a tree.

"Take that you one eyed mummy thing," Naruto said causing Kin gasped along with Zaku while Sasuke too advantage of the distraction before knocking Zaku out with the blunt of his kunai. Kin widened her eyes as she saw Dozu quickly rebound and was about to intercept Sasuke, but stopped when she felt something cold on her skin. Kin turned to see Naruto's cold, blue eyes looking at her and his sword to her throat.

"Just give me the scroll and I'll let you live. I'd rather not kill you if I can help it at all," Naruto said as Kin turned to Dozu for some help. Dozu gritted his teeth and sighed as he took out the scroll and, reluctantly, handed it over Sasuke. However, that wasn't the end before Zaku stood to his feet.

"I'm not done with you Uchiha brat. I'm going to kill you," Zaku said as he charged at Sasuke. Sasuke smirked and easily dodged Zaku before disarming him and effectively crushing the sound nin's right arm with a sharp knee strike. Dozu paled along with Kin as they heard Zaku scream. Naruto was about to intervene, but stopped as Sasuke flashed his sharingan angrily at the other two.

"Take this trash and leave us alone if you know what's good for you," Sasuke said as Naruto withdrew his sword from Kin's throat. Kin and Dozu sped to Zaku before rushing out of sight while Naruto and Sasuke regrouped with Naruto's white aura leaving his body.

"What? It hasn't been twenty minutes yet," Naruto said until her heard a soft laugh from Hikari as the sentient woman sword explained the reason for that.

"_Oh Naruto-sama, I forgot. When you aren't fighting the Muga no Kyouchi simply stops and allows you to conserve chakra. It's quite beneficial to you, but don't rely on it. For right now you have no choice, but you really should train with me when you get the chance," _Hikari explained. Naruto nodded as the voice slowly faded into nothingness. Naruto sheathed his sword and walked over to Sasuke and patted him on the back.

"Nice one teme," Naruto said while Sasuke nodded and put the scroll away before turning to Naruto.

"You too dobe," Sasuke said as Naruto nodded and began to walk away, but Sasuke wasn't finished as he looked at the ground.

"And I'm sorry," Sasuke said effectively causing Naruto and Kyuubi to fault as both hit the ground in the real world and the mindscape.

Also somewhere, a lone Uchiha, and his companion, shuddered at the thought of something impossible that might have happened at that same moment.

Naruto quickly rose to his feet and stared at Sasuke in disbelief of his actions. If you told Naruto that Sasuke, the king of emos, the prince of arrogance and the demi-god of superiority complexes, was going to say 'sorry', you would have easily been sent to the psychiatric ward for fear of insanity.

"What did you say Sasuke?" Naruto asked him. Sasuke huffed, but turned to Naruto with a small impassive face, but thanks to Kyuubi, Naruto was able to see untold amounts of regret in his eyes.

"I said I'm sorry. I'm sorry for how I acted like a stuck-up jackass. I'm sorry for everything," Sasuke said as he made his way to wear Sakura was sleeping and sat next to a tree bark while Naruto leaned on the tree.

"That's the last thing I expected from you Sasuke, what's with you today?" Naruto asked him. Sasuke grunted, but did respond since they had to wait for Sakura to wake up.

"During our fight with Orochimaru, I say some of my limits. I'm not as powerful as many people say I am and that proved it. I saw my life flash before my eyes and ya know...," Sasuke paused to judge Naruto's reaction, but couldn't really find an expression since Naruto was busy thinking it over.

"I've never really done anything besides get the sharingan. I've lived a pretty shallow life. It kind of reminds me of Itachi. I really only act this way because of what happened to the Uchiha clan a few years back," Sasuke said as Naruto listened. Before he even realized it, Sasuke simply told Naruto all about his life. He told about his family, the constant competing with Itachi for his father's approval and finally the murder of the entire Uchiha clan. Naruto widened his eyes at everything Sasuke had told him. This was the most talking the two had ever done, even if Naruto wasn't really responding.

"Really Naruto, I don't know what it means to be an avenger. It's probably just my way of finding an excuse to deal with my clan's death," Sasuke said, not really finding anything else to say. Naruto narrowed his eyes and slumped to the ground and closed his eyes like he was contemplating Sasuke's story.

"I guess losing your parents like that does do somethings to you. I wouldn't know since I never knew my parents. I'll never know if they loved me or hated me. Before I was given a purpose I wasn't sure what to do. Sure I said I'd be Hokage, but at the end of the day, I never knew why. It's obvious to me that not everyone would see me for me instead of Kyuubi, but I'd like to think I'd be the fool and still attempt it anyway. However, recently I've had to set that dream aside," Naruto said while listening to the soft sounds of the animals in the forest. Sasuke turned to Naruto and saw utter loneliness and sadness in them while Naruto decided to talk about his life since Sasuke shared his. Naruto told him about the constant glares, the demeaning names and the abuse he received during his life. It all made Sasuke wonder if these were the same people who treated him like he was kami incarnate. For Naruto they seemed more like demons than humans.

"So what's your dream now?" Sasuke asked him. Naruto faulted at that question since he wasn't sure how to answer it, but he suddenly took his sword off his back and looked at Hikari with a smile.

"It's to ensure that peace reigns in the world. My way of going about it is weird and you probably won't believe a word I say, but trust me when I say it's the truth," Naruto said causing Sasuke to raise an eyebrow at him. Sasuke saw that Naruto had a deep foreboding look on his face, before bringing to blond's attention to him.

"Try me then Naruto. I'll decided if I believe you or not," Sasuke answered. Naruto simply nodded and began to speak, but stopped when both heard Sakura stir. Naruto sighed and decided to put it off until they were safe and rose quickly to his feet.

"Come on Sasuke, we should go now that she finally woke up," Naruto told him. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, but nodded as Sakura slowly rose to her feet and rubbed her head before casting a glare on Naruto as she screeched.

"Baka, why the hell did you hit me? That hurt," Sakura said while Naruto sighed and quickly took to the trees ignoring Sakura while Sasuke followed him and the pink banshee followed Sasuke.

_**With Orochimaru **_

Orochimaru having had a little 'fun' with Anko in the forest of death was now sitting a a secret location, but he was quite pissed for two reasons. One, was because he couldn't give Sasuke the curse mark like he wanted. Second, he found the one person who would oppose him and his vision of bringing the world to his knees.

Orochimaru sat in his chair with Kabuto by his side and placed his elbows on the table in front of him.

"That Kyuubi brat has caused me a setback. I never imagined he would be the one that would oppose me," Orochimaru said with a sinister smile.

"_I told you I knew what I was talking about. You damn humans are such one-sided creatures and yet you show the most promising evil. You should have killed the brat. He'll become a danger in the future if you let this persist," _Orochimaru's sentient sword said as he gripped it.

"Kukuku, don't worry about him. He is insignificant right now. Kabuto, how are the preparations going?" Orochimaru asked as Kabuto appeared at his side.

"Everything is going according to plan Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto said with a bow. Orochimaru chuckled in the stillness of the dark, but Kabuto had a smirk of his own across his face.

"_Sorry Orochimaru-sama, but I think it's time the world had one less Sannin in the world," _Kabuto snickered in thought of his future actions against his unsuspecting master. The sentient being smirked in his dark little world since he could literally feel the betrayal off of Kabuto's body. Evil will be everywhere even if the light wins. Nothing can destroy evil so easily. It's the balance of life. All life has evil in it. Even the noblest warrior has even inside.

"_All it takes is to find out what makes that warrior tick," _The sentient being said with a smirk before the entire room was shrouded in darkness.

_**1 Day Later**_

Naruto and his team finally made it to the tower with two days to spare and entered the building. Naruto and Sasuke unrolled the scrolls and a poof of smoke came showing Iruka to team seven.

"Iruka-sensei, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked him. Iruka chuckled before placing his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"I see you made it Naruto. That's good. I'm glad you did it. It seems you made it ahead of the stop time. You and your team should go rest now and prepare for the next phase," Iruka said as he disappeared without answering Naruto's question which nearly infuriated the blond. Eventually, he and his team went into a vacant room and waited for the second phase to end. Sakura decided to get some more sleep as Naruto rummaged through his backpack and took out a leaf to try some chakra control exercises that Kyuubi had decided to teach him. Hikari didn't know much about chakra or things like that, but Kyuubi seemed to know so she asked Kyuubi to teach him. Kyuubi nodded since Naruto didn't really have any jutsus beside the Kage Bunshin technique and the Muga no Kyouchi. Naruto placed the leaf on his head and tried his best to keep it there, but it fell down attempt after attempt, but after an hour, Naruto managed to keep it for about 10 minutes before it fell. He was starting to get the hang of it.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was reading a scroll on katon jutsus, but he was still thinking about Naruto and what he was going to tell him. It puzzled Sasuke that Naruto would give up his dream about being Hokage. It's like take away Naruto from his dreams and all you have is a goofy shinobi who plays pranks. Sasuke got up and walked over to Naruto before taking a seat next to him.

"Hey Naruto, will you tell me about that dream of yours now?" Sasuke asked him. Naruto raised an eyebrow, but nodded. Naruto took out his sword and turned to Sasuke.

"It's better if she explains it. Close your eyes and try to focus," Naruto told him. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but nodded and closed his eyes while Naruto did the same. The room soon turned white and Sasuke slowly opened his eyes and gasped at the calm feeling he was getting. He turned to see Naruto opening his eyes also. Sasuke stood to his feet fast and looked around.

"Hey Naruto where is this?" Sasuke asked. Before Naruto could respond, Hikari decided to intervene.

"This is the transcended space Sasuke Uchiha. It seems Naruto-sama has allowed you to come talk with me," Hikari said bringing Sasuke attention to the good-looking woman. Sasuke turned to Naruto who nodded as the blond stood to his feet.

"Sasuke this is Hikari-chan. She is the one who gave me my new dream. No one else knows about this, but I figured I should tell you since you asked," Naruto said to him. Sasuke looked shocked at Naruto trust in him despite their much unlike past experiences with each other. Sasuke simply nodded and stared at the woman while Hikari explained.

"Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto's dream is one that I have burdened on him. Because of this dream he might not ever be able to become Hokage, but it's for the good of the world that he does. The world is going to fall into darkness Uchiha Sasuke. The Five Great Nations will all wage war on each other and all the smaller countries will be caught in that crossfire. Countless people will die and it will be from the actions of one man. That man is the harbinger of darkness. We have recently found out that the man is Orochimaru, the man you two fought in the Forest of Death. I know this is a lot to take in Sasuke, but you need to understand the importance here," Hikari said while Sasuke looked at the ground. It all sounded so unreal. He wondered if it was a simple fantasy come real, but one look in Naruto's eyes and he saw utter seriousness in them.

"Well if that's true then Naruto has his work cut out for him. We barely won against him and Naruto really was trying," Sasuke said which caused Hikari to chuckle at him.

"That's right. This is a bigger challenge that Naruto can handle by himself. That's why he needs help. More precisely, ten allies who will help him in his efforts to force back the darkness. Normally, Naruto could feel that he would want an ally, but it seems that the talk the two of you had must have done something," Hikari said while Sasuke casted Naruto a small glare. It wasn't one of hate or annoyance. It was more for confirming something.

"So does he have anyone right now?" Sasuke asked. Naruto shook his head in a negative.

"No I don't. Granted I have someone in mind, I don't have anyone currently," Naruto answered while chuckling and scratching the back of his head. Sasuke shook his head softly before looking at the ground.

"But why can't he become the Hokage? If it's that big a deal then maybe the villages should know," Sasuke said making a valid point. Naruto turned to Hikari for an answer and the woman was more than alright to supply it.

"Sasuke, what do you think would happen if every village knew of a war that had them all fighting each other?" Hikari asked him. Sasuke stopped for a second and paced the white space for a while before shock became evident on his face as he turned to Hikari.

"That's right. All the nations will be on edge for the slightest movement of the others and war will be inevitable. Lives will be lost much faster and Naruto isn't ready for that yet. He needs help, so we must wait. Also the reason he can't stay here is because the villages beliefs of right and wrong would weigh his options and his judgement. Naruto must have a steeled heart and mind to make the correct decisions without the village telling him what's right or wrong. Right and wrong are flawed because of human judgement Sasuke Uchiha. You know this first hand don't you?" Hikari asked him. Sasuke immediately nodded and turned to Naruto who appeared to be smiling. That smile unnerved Sasuke slightly.

"_He's giving up his dream just so people can continue living. They won't even thank him for it. He just does it cause it's who he is. Naruto, how much stronger are you than me?" _Sasuke wondered before looking at the ground.

"Naruto, you really are the number one hyperactive, knucklehead shinobi," Sasuke said with a soft laugh. Naruto raised an eyebrow before Sasuke walked up.

"I can't let Naruto upstage me. Let me help you out," Sasuke said with a grin. Naruto widened his eyes while Hikari raised an eyebrow.

"I could, but it's up to Naruto-sama. I can't make choices for him. He's the one that needs to approve of you," Hikari said turned her gaze to Naruto. Sasuke did the same while Naruto felt the pressure on him. Naruto averted his gaze around the room for a while, but suddenly nodded.

"Sasuke's not as big a jerk as he was earlier. I would like him to join Hikari-chan," Naruto said while Sasuke gave a grin. Hikari approved and walked up to Sasuke before grabbing his wrist . Sasuke felt a small burning sensation as he gritted his teeth. Hikari soon let go as Sasuke gripped his wrist in pain.

"What was that for? Dammit my wrist hurts like-," Sasuke stopped and saw a weird symbol on his wrist. Sasuke turned to see Hikari smiling and Naruto grinning at him. It all caused the Uchiha to raise an eyebrow before Naruto raised his wrist showing the same thing.

"Welcome to the Kitsune Warriors Sasuke," Naruto said as Sasuke sweatdropped at the name.

"Really Naruto? Kitsune Warriors? Couldn't you come up with a better team name?" Sasuke asked him. Naruto huffed and grumbled about unappreciative people while Hikari explained things to Sasuke.

"Alright Sasuke Uchiha. Now that you are with us, you have heightened senses. You trained constantly so you are easily able to use the technique** Muga no Kyouchi. **It's the same technique you saw Naruto use during the fight with Orochimaru. It doubles everything you have. Your speed, strength, chakra capacity, everything. However unlike Naruto, you don't have enormous reserves so you can only use it one time before your stripped of all your chakra," Hikari explained. Sasuke nodded while Hikari told him some additional things, but it wasn't anything really important so Naruto ignored it. After the talk, the light faded and Sasuke along with Naruto were back in the room. Naruto sheathed Hikari while Sasuke stood to his feet.

"Well Naruto it seems I'll be working with you. Try not to fall behind dobe," Sasuke said with a friendly grin. Naruto chuckled and rolled his eyes at Sasuke.

"Please Teme, just don't slack off when I surpass you," Naruto said smugly while Sasuke nearly scoffed. Both were tired and decided to rest though they had two days to do whatever.

_**2 Days Later**_

Everyone was gathered around the stage while Naruto and Sasuke glanced at everyone. It seemed that Suna's team made as well as all the rookie nine and team Gai also. Naruto and Sasuke narrowed their eyes when they saw that the Sound team managed to make it also. Everyone paid attention when the Hokage came into view along with Anko and the other jonin.

"Alright I'm glad that everyone has made it. Normally we would start the finals now, but there are too many people so we will have preliminaries. Your proctor will be Hayate Gekko. Hayate come to the floor," Sarutobi yelled as a sickly looking man came to the field. He looked like he had seen better days, but no one said anything.

"Alright we will *cough* have the prelims. I can stop the match at any time so there is no killing. If anyone wants to give up then now is the time," Hayate said to them. Instantly, Kabuto raised his hand saying that he didn't have the chakra to continue in any fighting and left.

"Anyone else? No? Alright then. The board will light up with people's names so everyone go to the stands," Hayate ordered with another sickly cough. Everyone obeyed before the screen lit up.

**Sasuke Uchiha vs Akado Yoroi **

Sasuke smirked and grinned at Naruto who huffed a bit childishly as the Uchiha made it to the center field with field along with a Akado.

"Well I get to face the mighty Uchiha clan. Try not to act too arrogant," Akado said trying to goad Sasuke. Sasuke gave a small smile and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Naruto watching and smirking at him.

"Well then. I simply say that you have no chance at beating me," Sasuke said to him. Hayate raised his hand an allowed the two to begin. Akado threw a kunai, but Sasuke simply dodged then charged at Akado while letting out a kick. Akado blocked the kick and twirled Sasuke sending the Uchiha head first into the ground. Sasuke countered and placed his hand on the ground which surprised Akado. Sasuke took out a kunai from his pouch and aimed for Akado's leg, but the man moved away while Sasuke backflipped and slightly huffed.

"Not bad for an Uchiha," Akado said while everyone heard the loud cheers of Sakura and Ino. Sasuke rolled his eyes at the two before smirking.

"It's just the preliminaries. I just have to win this fight. Alright then," Sasuke said to himself before the small white aura came around his body. Naruto chuckled while everyone began to pay attention to the calm aura that Sasuke was exuding. Akado flinched while Orochimaru, in a jonin disguise, narrowed his eyes at the sight. Sasuke brought his eye level to Akado's and gave his best serious face.

"**Muga no Kyouchi," **Sasuke said as Akado steeled himself and had his hand glow with chakra.

"That little aura won't be enough to defeat me," Akado said as he charged at Sasuke. He, however, underestimated Sasuke's skills since the Uchiha disappeared faster than he could see and appeared under him. Sasuke kicked him into the air then appeared under him.

"It's over," Sasuke said bringing around a kick only for it to be blocked. Sasuke wasn't done however and maneuvered his other foot into Akado's abdomen and sent him down. He let out two punches before slamming Akado into the ground with his foot.

"**Shishi Rendan( Barrage of Lions)," **Sasuke yelled and walked away from the unconscious Akado. Hayate looked him over and nodded.

"Winner: Sasuke Uchiha," Hayate said as everyone winced again from hearing Sakura and Ino yell. Sasuke made it to the stands and leaned on the wall.

"Nice job Sasuke-kun," Sakura said to him. Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes while Naruto smirked.

"Alright Sasuke. I accept your challenge," Naruto said to himself as the board lit up again.

**Shino Aburame vs Zaku**

The match wasn't really anything worth seeing. Zaku had his arm blown open when Shino covered up the holes in his arms. It seemed to be a really painful experience, one that Naruto was glad he didn't have the misfortune of doing.

"Winner: Shino Aburame," Hayate said as the board lit up with the next two people.

**Shikamaru Nara vs Kin Tsuchi**

Everyone could say it was a good match since Shikamaru displayed some of his hidden intelligence. He managed to trap Kin in his shadow possession justu and by using a kunai and playing a game of chicken. Shikamaru ducked under the kunai, but Kin did the same however she slammed her head to the wall and was knocked out leaving Shikamaru to complain about troublesome women.

"Winner: Shikamaru Nara," Hayate announced and the board went through the various names.

**Sabaku no Kankuro vs Misumi Tsurugi**

That match, Naruto could call it interesting since Misumi was tricked into fighting a fake Kankuro. It turned out that Kankuro was an expert puppet handler and ended the match by knockout.

"Winner: Sabaku no Kankuro," Hayate spoke. The board went again and stopped.

**Sabaku no Temari vs Tenten**

Naruto and Sasuke had to feel bad for Tenten. She was an excellent marksman who prided herself on her weapon skills however she was up against a wind user who simply blew them all away. The match ended with a battered Tenten on Temari's fan. Tenten was simply unlucky to have Temari for an opponent.

"Winner: Sabaku no Temari," Hayate yelled. The next match came while everyone sighed.

**Sakura Haruno vs Ino Yamanaka**

That match was probably the most boring out of anything. The fight ended in a double knock out with punches that didn't even look that tough to take. It all only showed both Sakura and Ino's lack of training.

"This match has no winner," Hayate said while everyone sighed and looked forward to the next match.

**Naruto Uzumaki vs Kiba Inuzuka**

Naruto smirked that his name was called and turned to Sasuke who gave him a small grin.

"Don't lose dobe," Sasuke said while Naruto scoffed before heading to the field to meet his mutt of a classmate.

"Well Akamaru, looks like we get the easiest match out of them all," Kiba said while Akamaru barked. Naruto smirked and took out his sword.

"Yeah well bring it Kiba. I'll show you who the top dog around here," Naruto said as Hayate waved for them to begin. Kiba wasted no time and charged at Naruto with a **Gatsuuga. **Naruto managed to dodge the drilling duo, but they made a sharp turn and slammed into Naruto sending the blond into the wall.

"As I said. Too easy," Kiba spoke while he walked away.

"You running away dog breath?" Naruto asked as he emerged from the hole in the wall. Kiba raised an eyebrow before chuckling and charging back at Naruto. Naruto did a simple sidestep and threw smoke bombs around the area blinding Kiba's vision. Kiba stopped his charge only to see Naruto in front of him as the blond charged at him and made a clone. The clone tackled Kiba to the ground while Naruto held his sword to Kiba's throat and the clone held Akamaru down with a kunai.

"Forfeit Kiba," Naruto said simply to which Kiba conceded.

"Winner: Naruto Uzumaki," Hayate said surprising everyone in the room who knew how Naruto used to be with the term 'used to be' being used loosely. The board rang up again with an interesting match up

**Neji Hyuuga vs Hinata Hyuuga**

Neji gave Hinata a deep scowl while Hinata nearly flinched, but kept herself straight. She was prepared for this. She had trained hard for this day and was ready to prove that she wasn't useless.

"Give up Hinata. You have no chance in hell of beating me," Neji said while Hinata gave him a small smile.

"Well Neji-nii-san there is one way I could win, but it's a coward's way. I'll beat you fairly," Hinata said dropping into the Jyuuken stance. Neji scowled more, but dropped into his stance. Hayate gave them the signal to begin. Hinata decided to take the initiative and charged at Neji surprising the Hyuuga for a little, but he quickly composed himself while Hinata sent out a palm strike. Neji did the same as and blocked as the two went through their fight trying to attack the others chakra points. Hinata's confidence grew as she heard the shouts of encouragement from Kiba and Naruto as the battle went on.

"What's going on? She shouldn't be this strong," Neji said before making a critical mistake allowing Hinata to slam him in the chest. Neji gasped and pulled back while Hinata breathed easily and continued.

"Come on Neji. You said I should give up, but I won't run. Never again from you or anyone else," Hinata said to him. They both went through their fight with Neji rapidly losing his advantage. It was obvious his ploy didn't work and Hinata proved herself to be better than he could imagine. Both were rather tired and shot at each other before hitting each other in the chest at the same time. Their gazes locked with each other, but it turned to be a double knockout as medics rushed to their aid.

"Well Nii-san, I'm not as useless as you think," Hinata sighed while huffing and being carried away. Neji deeply sighed and looked at the ceiling.

"_What it fated that Hinata and I drew a tie. No one branch is better than the other?_ Neji pondered, but soon fell unconscious as the matches continued.

**Rock Lee vs Sabaku no Gaara**

To Naruto and Sasuke, that had to be the most entertaining match. Both were in awe at Lee's speed as he managed to injure the Ichibi jinchuuriki. However, Gaara was quite strong and managed to up Lee at ever turn. He didn't however count on Lee use of the primary lotus as well as five of the eight inner gates that simply caused a battered field and Gaara to appear on the ground. For a moment it looked like Lee won, but Gaara was resilient and launched his and at Lee crushing the youthful shinobi's left arm and leg before Gai intervened and the match ended.

"Now that's a guy we need. He may be brutal, but he is definitely a plus," Naruto said shocking Sasuke.

"You want that insane sand user to join use?" Sasuke asked. Naruto immediately nodded with a smirk.

"Hey, I never imagined you'd join. Plenty of interesting things can happen," Naruto simply said while Sasuke laughed. Kakashi and Sakura in turn wondered when Naruto and Sasuke got all buddy-buddy with each other. The board lit up one last time to show the last two.

**Dosu Kinuta vs Choji Akamichi **

The fight was...interesting. It didn't last long with Dosu being too fast for Choji to hit. The fa...uhhh...big boned shinobi turned into a giant human boulder before chasing Dosu around the field before hitting into a wall. He however was vulnerable to Dosu's sound since Dosu explained that 70% of the body is made up of water and water is susceptible to sound. Choji was simply one big eardrum as the sound knocked him out.

"Winner: Dosu Kinuta," Hayate yelled and the prelims ended.

"Alright everyone. We will hold the Chunin exams in one year for everyone. It will give you all the chance to gain new techniques to battle with and to impress people with. Here is the list of the order," Sarutobi said as the list was posted.

Match 1: Naruto Uzumaki vs Sabaku no Temari

Match 2: Shikamaru Nara vs Sabaku no Kankuro

Match 3: Sasuke Uchiha vs Sabaku no Gaara

Match 4: Shino Aburame vs Dosu Kinuta

Everyone looked at the list and smirked. The finals would begin in a year and that should be more than enough time for Naruto to find a teacher for kenjutsu.

"Well Sasuke, let's get out of here and train. We don't want miss me winning the Chunin exams," Naruto said while Sasuke nodded.

"Yea we wouldn't want to miss...woah hold up dobe. I'm the one who will win," Sasuke said while Naruto smirked.

"I'd like to see you try teme," Naruto easily said as all the teams left the forest of death to go home and prepare for the month of training.

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><p><strong>AN: No people it's not a Sasuke bashing fic. Please just this once let me make Sasuke a good guy. I'll go on Sakura just let me make Sasuke good this once.**


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: Hey people. I want to point out that I made the mistake of saying a year till the Chunin exams. It was a month, sorry about that. That's all.**_

* * *

><p>Having left the Forest of Death, team seven made it back to their original training grounds and decided to talk for a bit. Naruto had no doubt that Sasuke could get a good trainer of he walked around the village, but as for him and his sword it was another story. Naruto didn't know that many kenjutsu users aside from Tenten when he watched her fight. He had to get better with Hikari if he was going to stand a chance against anyone without always relying on the Muga no Kyouchi. He would also need to get some more jutsus under his belt. He didn't really have anything and that made him slightly vulnerable, but he sure as hell wasn't weak.<p>

"**Now that I can help you with Kit. If it's jutsus and chakra then I can teach you I guess," **Kyuubi said interrupting Naruto's thoughts. Kyuubi's willingness to help him out made him slightly skeptical of the entire thing and it made him wonder what she was planning. He then heard Hikari chuckle and Kyuubi grumbled.

"_He's suspicious of you Kyuubi. Looks like your new friend needs some convincing," _Hikari spoke making Kyuubi sigh at both her container and his sentient sword.

"**Hey! I said I'd help. I didn't say I was going to like it. Helping others is not a particular demon trait of you've forgotten," **Kyuubi retorted. Hikari chuckled a little more, but quieted down after hearing that from Kyuubi.

"_Well Kyuubi-chan, thank you. I hope to learn some kick ass jutsus from you," _Naruto said mentally making Kyuubi give an approved snort for a response before the vixen when to sleep, but not before going over Naruto's training schedule.

"Hey Naruto,"

Naruto suddenly opened his eyes and turned his head to see Sasuke and Sakura staring at him since they thought he was talking to himself. Sasuke wondered of Naruto was talking to Hikari while Sakura simply thought he was being weird.

"Oh sorry Sasuke, what's up?" Naruto asked the raven haired boy. Sasuke got out of his thoughts about who Naruto was talking to and repeated himself.

"What are you going to do for the month? I'm gonna train with Kakashi for the month. I simply want to know so we can avoid each other until the Chunin exams," Sasuke said again. Naruto adopted a thinking pose and was about to say something before Sakura interrupted.

"Why do you want to know that Sasuke-kun? Naruto-baka's gonna lose anyway. Once a loser always a loser," the pink bubblegum haired banshee stated. Naruto and Sasuke narrowed their eyes at her, but Naruto was the only one who said something.

"So your basically calling yourself a loser Sakura? Cause based on that knockout you had with Ino, I couldn't say much for your skills," Naruto countered making Sakura crack hr knuckles at Naruto. Sasuke silently chuckled at Naruto's words along with a supposed to be sleeping Kyuubi.

"What was that Naruto-baka?" Sakura asked trying to punch Naruto, but it didn't happen until the blond did a swift turn and chopped Sakura behind the neck effectively knocking her out. Kyuubi laughed while Hikari wondered if simply being too damn annoying was a sign of the darkness. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his blond teammate's actions while Naruto turned to him.

"What? She was all up in my face. It was strictly self-defense," Naruto proclaimed. Sasuke turned from Naruto to Sakura and back before placing the fallen genin on one of the three training posts before turning back to the blond.

"So what are you going to do?" Sasuke asked completely dropping the situation. Naruto dropped it also and stared at the lake around the training field for a bit.

"I'm gonna find a kenjutsu teacher. I really need one. After that I'll get some jutsus under my belt. That's pretty much it," Naruto said shrugging his shoulders. Sasuke nodded and began to walk off.

"Alright then Naruto. I'm gonna find Kakashi's lazy ass and train. See you in a month then," Sasuke said and was about to leave before Naruto called him back and pointed to Sakura.

"What do we do with her? Naruto asked making Sasuke's eyes travel towards the form of Sakura who was still knocked out cold from Naruto's hard chop to the neck.

"Umm...I think she's sleeping so let's allow her to sleep. She's not in the chunin exams so she can sleep wherever she wants I guess," Sasuke said before disappearing into the foliage. Naruto chuckled then disappeared from the field and went to look for a trainer.

The blond decided to head for the Hokage Mansion and ask Sarutobi to tell him of any shinobi who were good with swords and the like and wouldn't mind training him for the month. It excited him to that he would be able to use Hikari properly.

"_Just try not to strain yourself Naruto-sama. You can't save the world if your dead," _Hikari said making Naruto sweat slightly at her words.

"It's alright Hikari-chan. I'll get my trainer then you and I will make an awesome team with Sasuke and Kyuubi," Naruto admitted while Kyuubi heard her name being used and nearly widened her eyes.

"**Who said I was teaming up with you Kit? I said I'd help. I didn't say I'd team up with you," **Kyuubi replied making Naruto and Hikari think over her words.

"Is there a difference/_Is there a difference?" _Both asked the vixen at the same time before Kyuubi paused to think over her words and their question, but Naruto didn't let her finish her thoughts though.

"So are you saying you won't team up me?" Naruto asked making Kyuubi groan almost out loud at her container.

"_**Why is my only human 'friend' a hyperactive, loudmouth blond? Oh how I have fallen," **_Kyuubi thought calmly banging her head on the mindscape ground.

"**(sigh) Are you giving me a choice here?" **Kyuubi asked. Naruto nodded his head surprising the queen of demons slightly at his body language.

"Yes Kyuubi-chan. I wouldn't force one of my friends to do what they didn't want to," Naruto responded making Kyuubi narrow her eyes at her container. Hikari fell silent and did wonder over Kyuubi's answer, but decided not to say anything.

"**Dammit, you had to play the friend card didn't you Kit? Fine, fine. I've really got nothing to lose anyway," **Kyuubi said making Naruto slightly just for joy as he entered the Hokage Mansion. He walked past the receptionist desk and up the long flight of stairs and knocked on the door.

"Come in," Sarutobi said while Naruto turned the knob to see his longtime friend and grandfather figure.

"Hey Jiji, how's the paperwork coming along?" Naruto asked him. Sarutobi smiled at the sight of Naruto along with his new clothes and the new sword on his back, but suddenly grumbled before stamping another sheet.

"It's hell Naruto-kun. It's a kage's worst nightmare, but never mind my problem. Why are you here? Not that I don't enjoy your company, but did you want something?" Sarutobi asked the blond. Naruto nodded and began with his question.

"I have the chunin exam finals so I was wondering, do you know anyone who could train me for the month? Preferably someone who knows kenjutsu," Naruto asked making Sarutobi eye his sword a bit longer. The old Hokage decided to take a break from the paperwork and placed his elbows on the table while taking a small puff of his smoke.

"Unfortunately Naruto-kun not many shinobi use kenjutsu. Only a small number do and they don't heavily rely on them. There is only one person who could teach you to a master level and that would be my anbu, Yuugao Uzuki. She's the Kenjutsu Mistress of Konoha, but she out on a mission and won't be back for at least three weeks which is too late for you so I don't really know anyone. I'm sorry," Sarutobi said to him. Naruto's heart sank slightly since he wondered why kenjutsu was so limited in Konoha. He, however, didn't dwell on the problem for too long and simply smiled.

"Alright Jiji thanks for telling me. Well I'll try looking around. Maybe I'll get lucky," Naruto said before taking off. Sarutobi smiled as he watched his surrogate grandson leave the room, but the blond suddenly stopped at the door making Sarutobi raise an eyebrow.

"Hey Jiji. If all that paperwork is a problem why don't you just use the Kage Bunshin justu to help you. That's what I would do," Naruto said making Sarutobi drop his pipe as the old man stood to his feet. Naruto watched his walk up to a random wall in his office and he started to widen his eyes when he, Kyuubi, and Hikari saw Sarutobi slam his head into the wall multiple times.

"Stupid! Stupid! STUPID! IT WAS SO OBVIOUS DAMMIT!" Sarutobi yelled while Naruto slowly backed away then suddenly tensed when he saw Sarutobi stare at him and give him a bone crushing hug.

"Thank you Naruto-kun. I've got to give you and A-ranked missions pay. You just helped a kage defeat one of his greatest enemies. Thank you," Sarutobi said practically crying out his joy. Naruto felt very happy he could help his Jiji except for one small problem.

"Air. Jiji air. I need air Jiji," Naruto said causing Sarutobi to drop him and Naruto to take big gaps of oxygen to fill his lungs. After all was said and done, Naruto left the Hokage mansion with Sarutobi telling the blond he would add the money to Naruto's account for later use.

Since finding a kenjutsu teacher was impossible at the moment Naruto decided to head back to the training fields and start Kyuubi's training in his ninjutsu training. He still had plenty to learn and a month to do it. It might be a lot of work, but he'd make it work. He was Naruto Uzumaki after all.

_**At the Training Fields**_

Naruto made it back to the regular spot and saw Sakura gone from the training post and sighed that she must have woken up and shot off after either Sasuke, which was going to be a failed attempt or after him for some revenge, which would be another failed attempt since he would be damned if he got hit by her again for any reason. He decided not to dwell on anything and simply took a deep breath of that fresh air and smell of the trees before cracking his knuckles and talking to Kyuubi.

"**Alright Kit. Those kage bunshins are going to come in handy for this type of training. The way to use them fully is that whatever they do comes back to you. So you can train yourself to perfection. Now based on you I can tell your affinity and you have two primary ones. There are katon and fuuton. Alright first exercise is to make twenty clones and separate them into two respective groups," **Kyuubi instructed and Naruto followed those instructions out. He made twenty clones like she wanted and waited for more of Kyuubi's teaching.

"**Good. Now then, have each clone take a leaf and send ten clones to one side and the other ten to the other side. The first group with work on katon training and the second will do fuuton training," **Kyuubi began, but Naruto stopped her with a question.

"But what's the purpose of the leaves Kyuubi-chan?" Naruto wondered before he heard the fox vixen give a small laugh before clearing her throat.

"**I was getting to that kit. Now, then have your clones focus chakra into the leaves. The result of this for the katon side will be burned leaves and the result for the other side will be sliced leaves. I want you to keep up the training until the katon leaves are burned to a crisp and the fuuton leaves are cleanly cut in half," **Kyuubi spoke. Naruto nodded and sent his clones the orders and all twenty clones grabbed twenty leaves and started training.

"_Alright, while their doing that, I guess I'll go off and go and do some physical exercise,"_ Naruto thought and headed off a little deeper into the woods before stopping when he heard some water splashing. Naruto raised an eyebrow at the noise and decided to investigate. He stayed low and quiet to the ground so that he wasn't heard and crept through the bushes. The sight Naruto saw was quite stunning in his honest opinion. Naruto saw a blond haired woman in the pond washing off her body while her clothes were laid on the grassy field. Naruto widened his eyes as they unconsciously traveled down her form.

"_Who is that? I've never seen her around here before,"_ Naruto thought as he continued to watch her. The woman softly hummed a small tone that seemed to capture the blond jinchuuriki in a daze. It felt so melodious and sweet he couldn't help but listen to the soft tone. As the woman hummed, she poured water over her body and glistened down her slender body. Now, Naruto was by no means a pervert or anything, but she just fascinated him and he couldn't help looking. He also paled that he couldn't move even if he wanted to. If he did then no doubt he would be skinned alive and he didn't want that. Naruto's eyes averted from her body and landed to her clothes. He saw a headband on the grass and strained his eyes to see what type it was. From his view it seemed to have clouds on it.

"**Wow kit. I can't believe your peeping. Your quite bold you know," **Kyuubi spoke smiling at the situation Naruto found himself in. Naruto narrowed his eyes at his resident before answering her little statement.

"_Not now Kyuubi-chan. I'm in deep trouble if she catches me. And I am not a pervert. I don't know why, but I can't move," _Naruto mentally said causing Kyuubi to barrel over in laughter before Hikari interrupted.

"_Well Naruto-sama is a young man. It's not bad to study the female form, though it feels wrong to do it while your hiding. Just explain yourself Naruto-sama. Your life will be much easier," _Hikari told him before Naruto breathing picked up.

"_Sorry Hikari-chan. Not possible. I'm not movin' from this spot," _Naruto mentally declared. However, he wasn't meant to be as the blond backed up too much and stepped on a branch signaling his presence to the woman.

"Come out now!" She yelled while Naruto panicked. Kyuubi was still laughing and strangely enough so was Hikari. Naruto flinched and wanted to walk away that would only make the situation worse for him.

"_Kyuubi, you shouldn't laugh. If I die, your coming with me so you'll be healing my injuries," _Naruto said effectively making Kyuubi silence her mouth and he suddenly jumped out.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to peek. This was intentional," Naruto quickly said while the woman blushed and hid the top portion of her body under the water. Naruto quickly turned around and softly blushed from the encounter. He slowly turned his gaze to see he emerge from the water and dry herself off. After about 5 minutes, she slipped into her purple clothes and straightened her hair down before advancing towards Naruto.

"Why did you peep?" She asked. Naruto looked at the ground and sighed before facing her gaze again.

"It was an accident. I never meant to peep. I wanted to train for the chunin exams and I suddenly saw you bathing in the pond. I was going to leave immediately, but then I heard your wonderful humming and it sort of trapped me there and I wanted to continue listening," Naruto explained. The woman gave a small blush across her face when Naruto complimented her voice. She slowly formed a small smile when she saw Naruto's face. He was quite cute in his black clothes. His arms were also quite toned. Not to mention the cute as hell whisker marks on the sides of his cheek.

Breaking out of her stupor, the Kumo kunoichi smiled before deciding to continue the conversation.

"What's your name?" She asked him. Naruto raised an eyebrow at the question, but complied to her request and answered.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki. May I ask who you are?" Naruto asked in turn causing the woman to give a blank face for a bit until she gave a cat-like grin.

"I'm Yugito Nii. It's nice to meet you I guess. Alright then Naruto Uzumaki, for the compliment and the honesty I won't castrate you for peeping on me," Yugito said making Naruto thank Kami for living. After a bit of rejoicing, Naruto came back to the real world and decided to continue the conversation.

"So Yugito, what is Kumo doing in Konoha?" Naruto asked her. Yugito chuckled before sitting on the lean grass allowing Naruto to follow her lead and take a seat next to her.

"Kumo is representing their village in the chunin exams. We found out that no of our shinobi made, but Raikage wanted to come see the finals anyway. He claimed it was good for politics I guess. So your in the finals?" Yugito asked. Naruto immediately nodded while looking up at the sky.

"That's right. I just started my training a few hours ago. Though I still need a kenjutsu teacher," Naruto said with the last part more to himself than to Yugito, but the blonde woman heard it anyway. Yugito smiled at Naruto slight frustration, but did see that he seriously wanted to learn kenjutsu. That's what she thought, but Yugito didn't know that he seriously wanted to learn kenjutsu, but he seriously NEEDED to learn kenjutsu and the sooner the better for him. Yugito suddenly got a smile on her face before turning to the cute blond next to her.

"Say Naruto, you said you need a kenjutsu teacher right?" Yugito asked him. Naruto immediately nodded and Yugito's grin only got bigger while Naruto wondered what she was planning for him.

"I know someone who uses kenjutsu. He's kinda weird, but you'll like him. Come here tomorrow and I can get him to teach you. You'll find no one better than him," Yugito asserted. Naruto raised an eyebrow and thought over Yugito's offer.

"_Why not do it Naruto-sama? You need a teacher in order to wield me properly. You should accept the offer," _Hikari remarked. Naruto sighed and knew she had a point before turning back to Yugito.

"Why would you give me a teacher? Aren't our villages separate?" Naruto asked wondering of her intentions. Yugito kept up her cat grin which only seemed to affirm Naruto's suspicions before he heard her reply.

"Consider it a gift for your honesty and that compliment. I've rarely been complimented in my village so it's nice to get recognition for something no matter how little it is," Yugito confessed. Naruto nearly widened his eyes before looking at the ground.

"_She sounds just like me. It sounds like she's been through a lot,"_ Naruto thought to himself before giving a foxy grin and turning to the blond woman.

"Well Yugito-chan, I'll be glad to take you up on that offer. See you tomorrow then," Naruto said causing Yugito to give a small blush across her face for the affectionate name until she saw Naruto get up and brush the dirt and grass off of his pants. Yugito stood to her feet also and watched Naruto's retreating form.

"**Well he's an interesting young man. He's also quite the stud for his age. I'd love to have a go at him. I wonder how much stamina he has while doing other 'activities'," **someone said making Yugito blush then roll her eyes.

"Shut it Nibi. You need to stop being a pervert. Though he is interesting I guess," Yugito acknowledged to her resident. Nibi stirred in her cage with her two tails swaying around and it was obvious that she was smiling.

"**Oh yes he's VERY interesting. You should've seen the blush he had on his face when he saw your body kitten. It probably awakened those latent hormones of his," **

"Shut it Ero-neko," Yugito demanded making Nibi laugh much more from the embarrassment of her container.

"**Hey don't blame me if you found a good looking blond kid. Mmmm Naruto Uzumaki. Maybe I should get to know him better," **Nibi grinned while Yugito huffed and walked off to talk to her teammates.

_**With Naruto**_

Apparently, Naruto wasn't having such a good time with his bijuu either. Add the fact that Hikari was pestering him too. It all made him wonder why he had to have the weird life.

"**So kit's into blondes huh? **Kyuubi asked making Naruto blush. It hadn't even been five minutes since he left and he was already being hassled. He did have to admit that Yugito was good looking and quite beautiful in purple clothing. He, however, pushed thoughts down for later since he had to get back to training. And speaking of training, Naruto immediately dispelled his clones only for him to fall to the ground and nearly pass out until he willed himself over to a tree to relax.

"Damn, they were all training hard. So far I can cut almost cut a leaf in half and burn a leaf to ashes. How is that Kyuubi-chan?" Naruto asked really wanting to know.

"**Very good kit. It's obvious that your fire affinity is higher than your fuuton affinity if you can do that already. Okay we still have a full day of training for you. Now then, I will teach you some basic katas for Hikari. I only know the basic attack, defense, and counter moves so don't expect much. And while you do that, your clones training in the katon affinity will head to the pond for their next exercise," **Kyuubi announced. Naruto raised an eyebrow at her request and decided to make ask a question about it.

"But why Kyuubi-chan? Won't water get in the way of my katon training?" Naruto asked making a reasonable deduction. Kyuubi almost scoffed at that question, but remembered that Naruto was never the brightest student. Though she did find out that he was better suited to doing things on the field than in the classroom. He's a hands-on type of person so Kyuubi understood where he was coming from.

"**No Kit. That's the next step to your training. Your katon clones will be practicing trying to boil the pond with their chakra. It's harder than the leaf exercise since water cools over time. You will know that you completed the exercise when you see steam coming from the water. That will show that you have mastered that exercise, then we will work on your katon jutsus. So for now, summon your clones and you will be learning so stances," **Kyuubi instructed. Naruto obeyed her words and instead of ten, he made fifteen and sent them to the pond. Naruto also re-summoned his fuuton clones and had them go back to doing the leaf exercise while the real Naruto stood near the training posts while Kyuubi inserted a certain image that suddenly made Naruto blush.

"Dammit Kyuubi-chan stop doing that! I have to get to training right now," Naruto said while Hikari and Kyuubi laughed.

"**Aww Kit, didn't you appreciate the image of the blond I sent you?" **Kyuubi asked. Naruto sighed and unsheathed his sword and Kyuubi sent him an image of the basics katas for a few attacks. Naruto memorized everything and before long he was doing stance and lunging forward with Hikari, but it all felt weird for him and he constantly tried to match the image in his head, but he always fell short.

"**Kit, think of Hikari as an extension of your arms. She is a part of you. Losing her is like losing a limb. Your also shifting your stance too much, plus your weight is off balance. Keep your elbows bent slightly and don't hyper extend your arm. Then keep your feet wide and apart," **Kyuubi instructed again. Naruto nodded and went through the katas again with some better results, but it still felt off for him. Though he didn't give up. Practice makes perfect he believed.

After 2 hours of performing the attack katas with his sword, his movements still had flaws, but they were more fluid and solid. Naruto soon fell to the ground in exhaustion while he gripped Hikari in his right hand. The beads of sweat were rolling down his face and the blond leaned up against a post.

"_Maybe we should take a break now Kyuubi. Naruto-sama seems quite tired. Not to mention his clones are still doing their exercises. I think he deserves so rest," _Hikari affirmed. Kyuubi agreed with her and told Naruto to rest for a while before they continued again. Naruto was more than gratefully and closed his eyes for a little while as the wind blowed, moving his blond hair and wiping the sweat off his face. The wind was definitely refreshing. It even made Naruto got to sleep for a few hours since he was so tired from the training.

_**4 hours later**_

Naruto opened his eyes and groaned when he saw that the sun was setting and it made him sigh. He had been training all afternoon, but he still needed to get stronger.

"**Have a good sleep Kit?" **Kyuubi asked. Naruto yawned slightly and rubbed the back of his head slightly.

"Yeah Kyuubi-chan. Though I'm dead tired. I slept for nearly four hours so why am I still tired?" Naruto asked. Kyuubi chuckled when she heard that. Even Hikari smiled at Naruto's question.

"**Apparently while you slept your clones were still training for all those hours then suddenly dispelled. Probably from the chakra in their system running out. Alright Kit, pack it up and go home. I'm sure you'll need your rest for you kenjutsu tutor tomorrow,"** Kyuubi asserted while making a valid point. Naruto nodded then slowly stood to his feet from a slight headache and left the training field. As Naruto left, he turned a side glance to the pond and saw that it bubbling slightly even if there was no steam to be seen.

_**Village Streets**_

Naruto trudged himself through the streets of Konoha with the same tired expression he had on his face. Normally this wouldn't bother him due to his stamina, but having that many clones be exhausted through sheer training was tough even for him. Kyuubi and Hikari told him he would get the benefits for it, but as for right now all he was feeling were the damn consequences instead of some benefits. Naruto's stomach also grumbled and the blond decided to simply head home and eat two cup ramens then go to bed early. Yugito told him to be at the training grounds early. So to him it was around eight that he should leave so that meant getting to sleep early. Naruto looked up from the ground and noticed Sasuke trudging also. It made the blond smile slightly at the sight.

"Hey Sasuke," Naruto said not being able to yell in his condition. Sasuke gave a tired grin and chuckled at the sight of Naruto.

"You look a little worse for wear. What have you been doing?" Sasuke asked. Naruto smirked before passing Sasuke.

"Couldn't tell ya. You'll just have to watch during the chunin exams," Naruto said making Sasuke nod as both genin disappeared into the crowd towards their respective locations.

"_Kyuubi isn't there anything we can do for Naruto-sama? At this rate he might not even make it home," _Hikari asked a little worried about Naruto's condition. Kyuubi scoffed since she WAS doing something.

"**Are you kidding Hikari? I'm repairing his torn muscles as fast as I can. It's agonizing. I don't have the time to try and get him to relax," **Kyuubi replied while fixing up Naruto's muscles. Hikari sighed and let Kyuubi work on his body. Suddenly Hikari perked up and got an idea.

"_Hey Naruto-sama, try and hurry home. I can find a way to ease your tiredness," _Hikari said to him. Naruto smiled with a nod and walked home a little faster despite his body telling him not to.

It didn't really take long for him to arrive at the apartment. Naruto fished for his keys in his pockets and tiredly lifted them up the door and twisted the knob. Naruto smiled at the fact that he was home, but it suddenly dropped when he saw a kunai with a note. Naruto sighed and took the kunai out of his wall and read the note. Hikari, Kyuubi, and Naruto all had different reactions to seven simple words.

"_How terrible," _

"**Damn civilians. They should be lucky I'm in here right now," **

Both women gave their opinions to the note, but Naruto remained silent to the words 'Go to hell and die demon brat'. Naruto crushed the note in his hand a threw it away before sitting on his bed and giving an even more tired sigh.

"You know what? I'm gonna skip dinner and go to bed. Hikari-chan, this thing to help my tiredness. Can it be done while I sleep?" Naruto asked. Hikari nodded and replied that it could. Happy to hear those words, Naruto stripped from his black shirt and black pants only leaving a sleeveless T-shirt and some black boxers. Naruto unstrapped Hikari from his back and placed the sentient sword on his bed and laid down.

"Alright Hikari-chan, do what you gotta do," Naruto said as he closed his eyes. After that, a radiant light appeared from Hikari and it slowly transferred to Naruto before encasing his entire form in the radiant, white light.

"**Kit, I'm sorry," **Kyuubi said unexpectedly. Naruto gave a soft smile as he felt himself relax and his mind feel at ease.

"It's alright Kyuubi-chan. I've forgiven you. Let's all just get some sleep," Naruto said already following up on that statement. Hikari went to sleep also, even though she didn't need to, she found the joy in it since it helped clear the mind. Kyuubi, having fixed most of Naruto's muscles, went to sleep also since she dreamed about destroying the villager who sent that note to Naruto. Pretty soon the entire room was quiet with the silence of the night filled the room.

_**Next Morning**_

Naruto woke up the rays of sunshine and grumbled when his alarm clock went off. He saw it was around 7:30. It was almost time to meet up with Yugito and the person who would teach Naruto his kenjutsu. The blond jinchuuriki rose to his feet and took a quick shower allowing the warm water to wash away all of the training, sweat, and...tears from yesterday.

"Alright then. It's time to meet up with Yugito-chan and see who she recommends," Naruto said to himself which made Kyuubi stir and smile though it wasn't his intention to wake her up.

"**Hmm, so it's Yugito-chan now huh?" **Kyuubi asked making Naruto blush in embarrassment that his resident heard him. Kyuubi loved to make a fool out of her new friend. The whole friend concept was still new to her, but it proved to be enjoyable and slightly entertaining since she had something to do and it was simply nice to talk to someone.

"It's not like that Kyuubi-chan. I swear," Naruto said making Kyuubi roll her eyes at him and slightly scoff.

"**Sure kit. Sure it isn't," **Kyuubi chuckled making Naruto sigh. She wasn't going to let him live this down, no matter what.

Naruto exited the shower and heated up a cup ramen before walking towards his closet and got his clothes on. Naruto strapped Hikari to his back and quickly ate his breakfast before going out the door. It was still early so not many people were up around this time which made things easier for Naruto since the blond didn't have to deal with any people while on his way to the training grounds.

_**Training Grounds**_

Naruto appeared in the vacant fields only to see that he was the only person there and decided to wait at his training post. He figured he was still early so he waited for Yugito to arrive and closed his eyes then took a few leaves from the ground and worked on his leaf exercise for a bit.

After about 45 minutes, Naruto saw two figures arrive to the field and perked up when he saw Yugito in her regular purple clothes along with someone else. He had blond hair like him and her, but it was pulled back into dreads and his was a bit bigger around the stomach than them, but he didn't judge. If the guy could teach him kenjutsu, then he could be as fat as Choji and Naruto wouldn't care.

"Hey Naruto, sorry we're late. It took me awhile to wake this one up," Yugito said glaring at the man. Naruto waved it off and walked up to the two.

"It's alright Yugito-chan. I wasn't waiting long. So who is this?" Naruto asked pointing to the man. Yugito grinned and turned to him.

"This is Kirabi. Or as we like to call him Bee or Bee-sama," Yugito said introducing her companion.

"Hey yo boy how's it hangin with ya? Yugi-chan told me you interested in da' sword. Get ready fo' da' famous Bee-sama before he flats you like a board," Bee rapped while Naruto, Hikari, Kyuubi, Yugito, and Nibi all sweatdropped.

"**You've got to be kidding me right?" **Kyuubi asked more as a statement than a question. Yugito sighed and leaned towards Naruto.

"Like I said, he's weird, but he's one of our best kenjutsu users. Trust me on that," Yugito told him. Naruto looked from Yugito to Bee and back then groaned slightly.

"Alright Yugito-chan, I'll trust you on that," Naruto said making Yugito smile. After the introductions, Naruto took Bee and Yugito to a more open field where Yugito sat next to a tree at watched as Bee began to teach Naruto.

"Alright ya fool, first you gonna need to get rid of da' sword or else ya' skills are gonna stay floored," Bee rapped while Yugito pinched the bridge of her nose. Naruto gave a heavy sigh while looking at the wannabe rapper and he only one thing come to his mind.

"This is gonna be a LONG month,"

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><p><em><strong>AN: Alright I simply have to ask. Did you feel said I dropped the Fox loves the Cat simply because of the horny Nibi? Be honest you pervs.**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**KG: You must be confused right? Knowing that I would update this story when I have at least four out already. Hehe well the thing is, I just really wanted to update this one. Not sure why, but it's best that I do. You people must've waited a long time for this update and I sincerely apologize. I had been thinking of the correct plot for this thing and it somewhat works out for now. I'm sorry for making you wait, but some of you had doubts that I wouldn't finish this story and I want to send those down the drain so let me get started.**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Next Morning<strong>_

Naruto grunted and huffed as he went through the appropriate katas with Hikari in his hands. He jumped in the air and slashed forward at the open air while Bee and Yugito watched him work. The two smiled at each other before Bee's glasses glowed and he huffed while shaking his head.

"No no, ya fool. You is doing it all wrong. Get it straight for I is gonna mess with ya fate," Bee said and Naruto sweatdropped as he rubbed the back of his head. Kyuubi raised an eyebrow while Hikari scratched the back of her head.

"_Anyone know what that means?" _Hikari asked them while Kyuubi shook her head and Naruto did the same. The blonde sighed and wiped the sweat from his face. He decided to take a little break and the blonde rested in the grassy field.

"What does that even mean Ossan? I don't get what you're telling me dattebayo!" Naruto said and Bee shook his head while Yugito patted Bee's shoulder and shook her head.

"Sorry Naruto-san, but he's a little messed up. I think he said that your posture is wrong. Keep the arms steady and legs bent. Don't hyperextend," Yugito said and Naruto nodded as he got to his feet.

"I've never really held a sword before so I'm a little lacking in what I should do with Hikari. I don't understand this. Kuso, what am I doing wrong?" Naruto asked and Bee gave a smile.

"Hey boy no depression or there is gonna be regression. Don't give up nor shut up ya fool," Bee rapped and Naruto got to his feet. That's right. He had only been doing this for a few hours. Of course he wouldn't be getting it right away. That was the whole point of this month of training.

"Yeah I guess you're right. Fine, let's go again," Naruto said with his eyes beaming while Bee grinned. Yugito did the same and Bee told Naruto to assume the proper stance again. Naruto did so and the blonde went through his training with Hikari again. Meanwhile Hikari and Kyuubi were talking.

"_You know, he really is a hard worker. He's not like most of the other warriors I've seen," _Hikari stated in her white mindscape space while Kyuubi furled her tails over her body. The vixen raised a tired eye and watched as Naruto strutted and yelled while he trained hard to gain experience as Hikari's wielder.

"**Hmm I guess. Even if his teacher is a complete weirdo. However it seems that it's not all bad," **Kyuubi said making Hikari turn to the bijuu with a look of confusion.

"_I don't understand what you mean by that," _Hikari said and Kyuubi gave a small unnoticeable smile on her face.

"**I sense Nibi-chan in that girl and I even sense Hachibi-ojisan in the older guy. It's nice to know that their nearby I guess," **Kyuubi said and Hikari gave a small smile while she placed a finger to her chin and lightly chuckled.

"_You're acting a lot kinder than usual. Is this what humans call 'the time of the month'? _Hikari asked and Kyuubi blushed before she stood to her feet and growled.

"**SHUT UP!" **her voice roared in the mindscape making Hikari laugh out at her neighbor.

_**A few hours later**_

Naruto huffed and fell to the ground as he had finally had enough. He wanted to stop for a least a minute while Bee and Yugito could see his tiredness.

"Alright, take five fool," Bee said and Naruto smiled as he dropped completely to the hard floor and closed his eyes making Yugito and Bee smile at him. The two jinchuuriki of Kumo walked a bit away and decided to talk to each other while Naruto took his little breather.

"So Bee? Do you sense his chakra too?" Yugito asked and the Hachibi jinchuuriki quickly nodded and looked at the blonde.

"Yeah, he's got it alright. Bro's gonna be so shocked. Yeah!" Bee said and Yugito nodded as she watched the wind blowing past Naruto's face. She gave a slightly calming smile while Nibi stirred.

"**Checking out your future mate Kitten? You sure do have a unique taste, but then again a lot of women go for the younger guys. Myself included," **Nibi said and Yugito rolled her eyes at the bijuu before she groaned.

"_Oh be quiet Nibi. It's not like that at all so just leave me alone. Besides with how you do I doubt you would be interested," _Yugito mentioned in her thoughts and Nibi smiled.

"**On the contrary Kitten. I'm rather satisfied with only one guy. So long as he can satisfy me for all the cravings that I have. Day, Afternoon and Night, every day," **Nibi said and Yugito paled before she decided to forget it as Naruto got to his feet. He groaned and rubbed his head.

"Hey guys I'm gonna go get something to eat. Would you like anything?" Naruto asked them making Bee and Yugito shake their heads at him.

"No thank you Naruto-san. I'm fine," Yugito said and Bee nodded the same as Naruto sheathed Hikari and walked off. He would really need to get something to eat and he still had some clones working one the water exercise that Kyuubi told him about and trying to make it boil which wasn't really working out for him in the least. He still had clones doing the leaf exercise from yesterday so that was always good, but he needed to do more. A lot more.

"What do we do when he comes back?" Yugito asked and Bee folded his arms.

"That fool. He really is a hard worker. Maybe katon jutsu for him, but remind me why are we doing this for him?" Bee asked and Yugito scratched her cheek before she shrugged her shoulders.

"He wanted help so I offered it. You know you're like that also Bee," Yugito said and the Hachibi jinchuuriki could only give a small chuckle as he nodded agreeing with her completely as they watched the shadow of Naruto's form disappear.

_**With Naruto**_

The blonde sighed as he entered the streets of his village. He still felt the weird glares from the people, but he chose to ignore them. He could only hope that they would all see the true light someday and think of the blonde as himself and not some monster. He even had to wonder if his parents were like this, but he tried not to think like that.

"Okay okay, no more depression. Time to get my act together," Naruto said to himself before he shot off towards his favorite restaurant.

It took quite a bit of time since he was tired, but the blonde finally stopped in front of his favorite ramen stand and smiled as he lifted up the curtain.

"Man am I hungry. Ayame-neechan, Oji-san. How are you guys?" Naruto asked and the two ramen makers smiled at their favorite customer before they watched Naruto sitting on the stool.

"Hey Naruto-kun. Is there anything we can do for you on this fine day?" Ayame asked and Naruto's smile beamed as he was about to order before Hikari stopped him.

"_Naruto-sama I think it is in your best interest to try vegetables," _Hikari said to him and Naruto visibly paled which made Ayame and Teuchi look at the blonde strangely while Naruto had a small discussion with Hikari on the matter.

"_B-But Hikari-chan, you should know that I hate vegetables. They taste horrible and they're so-," _Naruto paused when Hikari shook her head and lightly giggled before her tone spoke of seriousness and yet some motherly concern.

"_Naruto-sama even if I refitted your body with more toned muscles and even better speed to be able to wield me, you still need to take care of your body. One of the aspects of being a warrior is knowing the correct and appropriate foods to eat. You not like any other person, but please for me and the world you must eat the vegetables," _Hikari explained and Naruto mentally groaned before Kyuubi intervened.

"**And with that excellent body you will be more fit to mold chakra and perform many more awesome jutsu," **she reasoned and immediately Naruto widened his eyes and smiled at Teuchi while he slammed his hands on the table.

"Give me all the vegetables you've got dattebayo," Naruto yelled making Ayame widen her eyes and Teuchi gasp. The two glanced at each other for a rather long time before Ayame quickly set a plate in front of Naruto and Teuchi put a few vegetables on the place and slapped a note on it that said 'for the day that Naruto grows up and eats his veggies'. Naruto looked at the note and sweatdropped before he softly glared at Ayame and Teuchi.

"What...is...this?" Naruto asked and the two softly whistled before Ayame handed Naruto his chopsticks. The blonde looked at the vegetables and took a piece of spinach. He opened his mouth and quickly chewed it. He swallowed it fully and the blonde dropped his chopsticks.

"AHHHHH IT BURNS!" The blonde yelled out throughout the village and people wondered who the hell could be yelling at this time of day and what was burning.

_**With Sasuke**_

The Uchiha was currently working hard with Kakashi as his mentor and the one eyed jonin took notice of it. Sasuke seemed to be moving a lot faster, and swifter than he had been. He could see that the brooding Uchiha was really focused on what he was doing. Sasuke huffed and growled as he hit the ground.

"Come on Sasuke, one more time," Kakashi said and Sasuke turned to him.

"Kakashi, this thing you're trying to teach me. This...chidori. What is it supposed to do?" Sasuke asked and the jonin rubbed the back of his head before he glanced at the ground.

"It was the first jutsu that I ever created by myself. I want you to protect the bonds that you have created with it. Sasuke, can you do that?" Kakashi asked and the Uchiha looked at the ground. He growled with he thought he could use the power to severe the bonds and even kill Itachi, but then he remembered Naruto and the blonde's problems. No way could the dobe do his mission without Sasuke nor would the Uchiha allow him to. He might not have been the arrogant and self-affectionate ass he was a few weeks ago, but even he knew that he still had his issues. Sasuke closed his eyes before he felt the warm presence of light over his body. Kakashi widened his eyes as Sasuke activated his sharingan and the **Muga no Kyouchi. **Sasuke went through his handsigns and gripped his left hand. It immediately began to cackle as he charged at a rock.

"**Chidori," **Sasuke yelled as he slammed the rock making it break into pieces while Kakashi gasped. Before when Sasuke tried it, he could only shatter the face of the rock, but after that weird aura he could break the entire thing into pieces. Kakashi had to know how Sasuke was getting so much stronger than last time.

Sasuke grinned and turned to Kakashi. He balled his fists before he smirked.

"Hn I'll do what I need to. That's all," Sasuke said and Kakashi merely nodded at him while Sasuke's aura burned even brighter before he started to go through some taijutsu forms while the smile never left Kakashi's face at seeing Sasuke's new attitude.

_**With Naruto**_

The blonde groaned as he walked across the village. He coughed as he growled.

"I hope you're happy Hikari-chan," Naruto said and the sentient sword chuckled at her master before she rolled her eyes art his statement.

"_Hehe Oh Naruto-sama, it wasn't that bad," _Hikari said and while Naruto wanted to retort the blonde decided against it since it wouldn't do him any good to fight with someone who had lived a lot longer than him so the blonde chose for the second option and decided to shut his mouth. At least until he heard a yell.

"Naruto!" someone yelled and the blonde sighed. He closed his eyes before a bit of the civilian population watched as the demon brat dodged a strike for Sakura making them gasp before the blonde jumped out of the way and stood across the street.

"What do you want Sakura?" Naruto asked with a tired glare as he didn't have the time to deal with a banshee and her outbursts. Sakura balled her fists at her teammate as she was really hoping to get him in line and tell her where she could find Sasuke so she could cheer for him.

"Tell me where Sasuke-kun is," Sakura said and Naruto rubbed the back of his head before he gave a cheeky grin as he rolled his eyes.

"Why would I know where that teme is?" the blonde asked and Sakura charged at Naruto only for the Kyuubi jinchuuriki to sidestep her easily and hop to the top of the roofs making everyone gasp.

"Naruto, get down here," Sakura said and before long the blonde quickly disappeared with a wave goodbye to the pink haired kunoichi making Sakura growl at him as she stomped her feet on the ground.

_**Back with Naruto**_

The blonde entered a vacant spot in the village and sighed with a small huff as he scratched the back of his head.

"Hmm I wonder how she found me," Naruto said to himself while Kyuubi and Hikari thought the same thing. Naruto looked around and noticed that he was near the hot springs. The blonde rubbed the back of his head and sighed before he heard some kind of giggling. He looked up in a tree and noticed a man with white hair and a telescope looking into the woman's side of the bath.

"Hehehe oh yes! Yes! This is good. Oh there goes another one," he said and Naruto rubbed the bridge of his nose. He sighed again and took out his sword.

"Tell me Hikari-chan, Kyuubi-chan what do you think of perverts?" Naruto asked nearing the tree the man was one while Hikari scoffed.

"_Hmph such a disgrace to the male intellect as well as to the female form. I wrote it off since you did it by mistake, but him it's just plain rude," _Hikari answered and then it was Kyuubi's turn.

"**Well people are like that everywhere. Just learn to deal with it I guess, but I still find it rather bold than offensive. Thinking of joining him kit?" **Kyuubi asked and Naruto brought his sword back.

"I don't think so," he said and slashed the branch the man was on as he walked away. The man yelled and slid into the pool causing all the women to scream while Naruto sat down on the edge of the hot springs. Soon Naruto heard a fierce yell of pain from inside and shuddered as he didn't want to know what was happening in there.

The blonde decided to dispel his clones and did so only for him to receive a freakin' headache from the number of clones and also he nearly fainted in exhaustion of the clone overload. The blonde gripped his head before Hikari shined her light over Naruto's form. This was the sight the white haired man came to and he gasped out at what he saw before the light faded from around Naruto and the blonde sighed.

"_Oh man thank you Hikari-chan. I thought my head was going to explode," _Naruto told her and Hikari chuckled with a small smile.

"_Nothing to it Naruto-sama. Glad to help you," _Hikari said and Naruto nodded before he turned to the man who was beaten up quite a bit before the blonde noticed he was pointing at him.

"You, how dare you interrupt my research!" he yelled and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Sorry, but I don't think women like to be glared at like a piece of meat," Naruto said with his eyes closed before he noticed that the man folded his arms and huffed.

"Well it's not like a kid would know of man's fascination with the female form," the man said and he noticed a small blush on Naruto's face as he gasped while Naruto was remembering his small encounter with Yugito and how he got enough time to "study" her female form even though it was a mistake.

"And besides that, what was the light that shined over you?" he asked and Naruto mentally gulped. He slightly cursed before turning back to the white haired sage looking man.

"Must've been the sun's reflection. You know and stuff like that," Naruto said hoping that the man would buy it, but unfortunately he didn't however he decided to end it with that.

"Well brat, gonna tell me your name or do I have to guess?" he asked and Naruto gave a cheeky grin and pointed to himself.

"Fine Ossan, you're looking at Naruto Uzumaki. The savior of the world," Naruto told her and the man sweatdropped while the blonde sighed.

"_I really liked saying the Next Hokage better for a dream," _Naruto thought and Hikari slumped in her part of the mindscape since she knew that some of this was her fault.

"_Oh come on Hikari-chan. I'm not sad, just stating my mind is all. Don't worry about it. I don't regret you choosing me," _Naruto said and Hikari brightened up a bit with a smile on her face.

"_Ahh well, thank you Naruto-sama. I'm still a little sorry about this," _Hikari said and Naruto waved her off before he heard the old man laugh at him.

"Savior of the world? You? Hahaha don't make me laugh brat. Oh too late hahahaha," the man cackled making Naruto pout before he huffed and turned away.

"_You won't be saying that in a few years or so," _Naruto said in his thoughts while Kyuubi and Hikari nodded in agreement with their blonde friend before the man stopped his laughing.

"And who the hell are you?" Naruto asked before the man did a pose which made Naruto, Hikari, and Kyuubi sweatdrop.

"I'm the man who's known throughout the Elemental Nations. The women swoon when they hear my name. I'm the Sage of Mount Myoboku. The great man himself, Jiraiya the Toad Sage!" The now known Jiraiya said and Kyuubi rolled her eyes.

"**Kit, back away slowly," **she said and Naruto wanted to before he sighed.

"_Another weirdo. What's with this village?" _Naruto wondered before Jiraiya stopped and took a look at Naruto's attire.

"_Hehe he really is your son Minato. Same features and everything, but that light. I know I saw it. What's he hiding?" _Jiraiya wondered while Naruto backed up slightly as he saw Jiraiya closing in on him like he was some sort of criminal.

"Umm can I help you with something?" the blonde asked before Jiraiya backed up and shook his head.

"Huh? Oh sorry kid. So tell me Naruto, are you in the chunin exams?" Jiraiya asked and Naruto smiled with a nod.

"That's right dattebayo. I'm gonna show them all what I can do and then some, but I'm in training. I need my kenjutsu to be at a decent level while I also want some jutsu under my belt," Naruto said and Jiraiya chuckled.

"Really? Well then why don't I-," Jiraiya paused when he heard a feminine voice call out to the blonde young genin.

"Here you are Naruto-san!" Yugito yelled and the two men turned to see the older blonde walking up to him along with Bee. Naruto got to his feet and smiled.

"Hey Yugito-chan, I was just about to go back to you guys before I ran into him," Naruto said and the two looked at the man before they gasped.

"You, you're Jiraiya of the Sannin aren't you?" Yugito asked and Naruto widened his eyes while the old sage rubbed the back of his head.

"_What's a sannin Naruto-sama? I didn't ask this the last time since that guy Orochimaru appeared" _Hikari said and the blonde shook slightly before responding to Hikari question and Kyuubi's unasked question.

"_Well I think Kyuubi-chan should know, but the sannin are like the best of the best in terms of being shinobi. They are higher than anbu, but lower than the Hokage. I actually stayed awake in class for that one. There is Jiraiya, Tsunade, and that teme Orochimaru that we fought. I just now realized it. " _Naruto shouted in his mind while Hikari sighed and Kyuubi slapped her forehead.

"**Oh that's perfect. We really need to do something. Kit was getting his ass kicked even when using that move back in the forest. So what do we do"** Kyuubi asked while Hikari and Naruto groaned before the blonde was brought back to the real world.

"That's right I am. Tell me, what is Kumo doing here in Konoha?" Jiraiya asked with a suspicious glare and Yugito sighed.

'We're here in Raikage-sama's place to watch the Chunin exams. He said we should go so we did. Since then we've been helping Naruto-san prepare for the exams," Yugito answered and Jiraiya nodded in understanding. He turned to see Naruto smiling at their words before he sighed.

"I see, well that's good I guess. Tell me, how is he doing?" Jiraiya asked making Bee and Yugito glance towards each other.

"Well he only started yesterday so we don't know for real, but he has a lot of potential. All he needs is to follow up on it and he'll be good, but a month can only take him so far," Yugito said while Jiraiya smiled.

"I see, well then why don't we all train him? It'll be good and we can work out a simple schedule," Jiraiya said and Naruto gasped. He would get trained by a sannin? How cool was that? At least if the person wasn't a freakin' pervert.

"Why do you want to train me?" Naruto asked and Jiraiya slightly faulted before he scratched his cheek.

"Call it...payment kid," Jiraiya said walking off while Yugito, Bee, and Naruto followed him towards the forest.

_**Forested Area**_

Seeing that they were all far enough away from the village, Jiraiya sat everyone down on the ground as they faced Naruto and the toad sage sighed.

"So what are your affinities and what do you know?" Jiraiya asked while Bee and Yugito turned to Naruto. The blonde shrunk underneath their gazes, but he answered nonetheless to the question.

"I have Fuuton and Katon affinities. I know the Kage Bunshin technique and a bit of kenjutsu. That's about it," Naruto said and Jiraiya would've faulted if not for that Kage Bunshin comment.

"Well that's fine I guess. Tell me Naruto, do you know the secret to the Kage Bunshin technique?" Jiraiya asked and Naruto nodded.

"Yeah Kyuubi- ummm I mean, I learned it one day while training on my own," Naruto said and mentally sighed in relief that Kyuubi's name hadn't come out like he had thought it would've. Jiraiya nodded and turned around.

"I see, well alright then. Here's what we're going to do. Yugito-san will teach Naruto Katon techniques for one week. Bee-san will teach Naruto kenjutsu and stamina training for two weeks. I'll teach Naruto a very special jutsu and some special chakra in the final week," Jiraiya said and Naruto instantly gleamed.

"Jutsu? What jutsu? Is it gonna be cool?" Naruto asked making the three sweatdrop, but Bee laughed at Naruto's enthusiasm.

"Take it easy ya fool or you is gonna burn out," Bee rapped and Naruto sighed as he calmed down a bit more before he spoke.

"Umm, do you guys mind if Bee-san helps me create my own kenjutsu style? I don't want to copy someone else's. I want my own unique way of fighting with Hikari-chan," Naruto said gripping his sword and the sentient being smiled at her master's affection for her.

"Well that's fine and all, but I don't think it will be completed in the amount of time that you have," Jiraiya said, but Naruto smiled.

"Not true Ero-sennin. So long as my kage bunshins train I'll be able to pick it up in maybe two weeks. A bit less from how Bee-sensei teaches," Naruto said and everyone seemed to agree with that.

"But tell me, not that I'm not grateful, but why are you helping me Yugito-chan, Bee-san?" Naruto asked and Yugito smiled as she shrugged her shoulders.

"I really don't know, but it's better than just laying around the hotel all day plus you look like you really need help so I'm gonna offer it," she said and Naruto nodded with a quick smile on his face.

"Yo when people need help, we help. No ifs', ands', or buts' about it. Ya feel me ya fool?" Bee asked and Naruto just nodded absently before Jiraiya clapped his hands.

"Alright, well then let's get the brat's training started. We're burning daylight," Jiraiya said and everyone nodded as they got to work with the blonde and his training. It would be hard work, but Naruto just knew he would have a good time.

_**Three weeks later, last week of training**_

Naruto had worked hard and he had persevered. In the end, those numerous hours of training did him a world of good. He could finally rest easy knowing that he had his own kenjutsu style. He knew it wasn't perfect and that there were still plenty of flaws with it, but he worked it out as best he could with Bee as his sensei. The blonde had become quite adept with Hikari as his sentient weapon since Naruto could do a correct posture and even a few kenjutsu attacks. Naruto had called the kenjutsu style **Heaven's Light Dance. **It seemed like a good name to him so he went with it since he found Hikari's light intoxicating.

Bee had also brushed Naruto up on his taijutsu as the way the blonde had it was really something weird, but in the end, and with additional training in the mindscape with Kyuubi and Hikari while he slept, Naruto was able to get down a decent style of attack for himself as he decided to name his taijutsu after his bijuu calling it **Kitsune no Ken( Demon Fox Fist). **He didn't have the luxury of a name so he just used that for the moment.

After those two weeks, Naruto trained with Yugito and the Kumo chunin taught the blonde three katon techniques. All which were really cool in Naruto's book. Two C-ranked ones and one B-ranked one. Naruto had gotten them down thanks to all that training he did with his clones along with Yugito and Kyuubi, He had gotten all three down quite easily and it was then that Jiraiya noticed that Naruto was a more hands-on person. He was a genius when it came to trial and error by using his hands to do something. It was really an amazing thing.

Contrary to that week, Naruto had spent a bit of time with Yugito and tried to learn more about her to which Yugito had no problems telling him anything at all. She told him about some of her life in Kumo and how she wanted to be a strong kunoichi in the future. The two had shared just a few lunches together through the weeks. Naruto wasn't sure, but he seemed really curious about Yugito. It might have been a small crush after their first encounter and he was just really liking her, but the time he spent with her was really good to him. He was actually happy when she said that she would watch him in the finals. Really Naruto had never had anyone to like except for Sakura till he wised up and chose to stop living that never becoming reality dream to which he got teased a lot by Hikari and Kyuubi. Not that the blonde really minded.

The same thing could be said for Yugito as she found her time with the young genin to be rather fulfilling also. He would always be attracted to whatever she was talking about and she seemed to enjoy his attention. She was rather happy to get to know the blonde after that...previous encounter, but she had already forgiven it so it didn't really matter to her anymore. She could honestly say that she enjoyed Naruto's presence and Nibi was more than happy to make that known to her to which Yugito denied it constantly, but both knew the real truth.

It had currently been the two days of Naruto's week of training while Bee and Yugito observed Naruto's progress. Jiraiya had told Naruto about chakra and the blonde told them that he felt three different types making them confused. Jiraiya asked him to explain and that was what Naruto was doing.

"Well if giving these chakra colors, then I should say that mine is blue, but the other one is...red. _Kyuubi-chan was that you?" _Naruto asked in his thoughts and the female bijuu nodded as she furled herself over the mindscape bed that Naruto made for her.

"**Yeah Kit, it was during that time with that Haku boy that you released some of my chakra. You used it unconsciously, but due to our connection and relationship you are now able to use most of it without forcing yourself," **Kyuubi answered and Naruto mentally nodded before he noticed that he stopped talking.

"Oh sorry. As I was saying, this chakra is red and then there is a third one that is pure white. It's calming and serene," Naruto said making Jiraiya nod although he was confused.

"_Is Kyuubi's chakra mixing with Naruto's to form something new? I'll have to talk to the old man later about it, but for right now we'll get him used to that red chakra," _Jiraiya said mentally before smiling.

"Well alright then. For now we'll get you to access that chakra, but first Naruto would you like to sign a contract?" Jiraiya asked and Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Contract? What's a contract?" Naruto asked and Jiraiya face-palmed himself. These are the types of things they should be teaching in the academy. So Jiraiya spent half and hour teaching Naruto about summons and the relationship between them and the summoner.

"Cool! Let me sign! Let me sign," the blonde said and Jiraiya chuckled.

"In a minute brat. Just bit your thumb and sign your name in blonde over the scroll. We'll give it a few tries and then see how that works," Jiraiya said taking the massive scroll from his back and dropping it on the floor. Naruto looked it over and gasped before he stopped a name above Jiraiya's. It said 'Minato Namikaze'. Naruto raised an eyebrow before he felt himself drawn to the fourth Hokage stone face. He looked at it before signing. He wrote his name and the seal glowed and then faded as Jiraiya smiled and furled it up.

"Alright give it a shot. Do these handsigns and simply yell," Jiraiya said as he showed the blonde the handsigns. Naruto nodded and bit his thumb. He did the handsigns and yelled.

"**Kuchiyose no Jutsu," **The blonde shouted as a poof came. Yugito and Bee looked over it along with Jiraiya and Naruto as they saw a small tadpole with legs. Jiraiya sweatdropped while Naruto looked at it in awe.

"It's...a tadpole," Yugito said while Jiraiya sighed.

"Maybe I was expecting too much," Jiraiya remarked and Naruto growled.

"Hey it's growing and it's got legs too," he pointed while Jiraiya growled the same way and grew a large tick mark on his head before he smacking Naruto upside the head.

"Who cares! IT'S A TADPOLE!" He yelled making everyone cover their ears.

Naruto sighed as he spent the next hour pouring chakra to do it all right. Kyuubi was instructing him on what to do, but the blonde was having a little bit of difficulty with it. Each time he tried the frog got bigger, but not to the standard that Jiraiya wanted.

After enough tries Naruto sighed before he got a gleam in his eyes. Yugito, Bee and Jiraiya noticed it while Naruto bit his thumb one more time.

"_Kyuubi-chan, back me up on this," _Naruto said and Kyuubi channeled her chakra into Naruto's body while the blonde released it.

"**Kuchiyose no Jutsu," **Naruto yelled now adding Kyuubi's chakra into the mix causing a loud explosion of smoke making everyone back up before Yugito gasped, Bee whistled and Jiraiya sweatdropped.

"_Oh boy. To summon that guy of all people. The brat has a lot of potential. Well either that or he's freakin' nuts," _Jiraiya said to himself while Naruto bounced on the head of something big.

"Kuso that hurt. Where am I?" the blonde wondered before he looked down and gasped at three human sized dots on the ground.

"I did it. I DID IT! I really did it!" Naruto yelled as he bounced on someone's head.

"**Hey Jiraiya stop bouncing on me you perv. Why did you summon me?" **the giant toad asked and Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, Ero-sennin didn't summon you. I did. I'm the new summoner Naruto Uzumaki. How you doin?" the blonde asked and the toad looked up.

"**Yeah right brat. As if you could summon a being like me. I'm the Boss Toad of the Toads, Gamabunta. I doubt it like hell that you could do this, so don't flatter yourself. I guess I'll take a walk. Besides, just cause you're on my head doesn't mean I'll acknowledge you as my summoner," **the toad known as Gamabunta said and Naruto grew a tick mark.

"_Gonna take that from a frog Naruto-sama?" _Hikari joked before the blonde growled and punched Gamabunta on the head even if it had no effect.

"Yeah well you will acknowledge me as your summoner. I'll just stay on your head for the rest of the day without falling off," Naruto said and Jiraiya gulped. Yugito gasped and so did Bee.

"We should back up," Jiraiya said and the others agreed before they ran off and Gamabunta smiled.

"**Is that right? Well hold on brat and don't let go or you're dead," **Bunta said as he jumped into the sky making Naruto scream while Yugito prayed to Kami for the blonde's safety.

"**Yeah Kitten better pray for your future husband and your future kittens. It don't do good if he's dead like this," **Nibi said making Yugito mentally growl.

"_Nibi shut it!" _Yugito commanded making her bijuu laugh in her cage at her container and her blushes, while everyone watched Naruto got through his trial as a summoner.

Naruto was in a daze and with good reason too. Bunta had been jumping all day and the old toad was getting desperate to get Naruto off of him, but the blonde didn't relent. He held on steadfast and Gamabunta grumbled before he gave one final high lap.

"Kyuubi-chan, how many jumps has it been?" Naruto asked while he felt like he was about to puke making Kyuubi chuckle at her container. She found it pleasant to see him in such situations, but she wasn't being as mean and coldhearted as before. She was a lot more open.

"**That would be jump number 140. I think he's done though," **Kyuubi said and Naruto groaned.

"Hikari-chan, how many close calls?" Naruto asked and the sentient sword being chuckled at her master also. It was rather amusing to see the young genin enjoying his time as a kid even like this.

"_Close calls are number 112 Naruto-sama, but you did it," _Hikari said as Naruto felt his world spinning while Gamabunta panted. He grumbled before he moved his eyes to the top of his head and did the last thing that Naruto or anyone else suspected. The Chief Boss of the Toads...laughed.

"**HAHAHAHA! You really are an annoying brat, but you did right and actually stayed up there. I guess you did summon me after all," **Bunta said and Naruto twitched.

"We're just figuring that out now?" Naruto asked and Gamabunta scratched his nose.

"**Cheeky brat, but I, and all the toads, acknowledge you as our summoner. We look forward to working with you brat. _The same as you, isn't that right Minato?" _**Bunta thought to himself before he heard snoring. Naruto was out cold and the old toad chuckled before he poofed. Naruto started to fall to the ground and before long Bee caught him and everyone looked at the sleeping boy.

"He really can give a show. This brat I know he can throw," Bee rapped, but Jiraiya and Yugito nodded nonetheless.

"That's true. Well he'll be out until the exams so let's take him home. Hopefully we've done all we could," Jiraiya said and everyone shunshined out of sight leaving a destroyed forest behind.

_**With Kabuto, nighttime**_

The medic nin to Orochimaru was currently scheming with Oto and Suna as they all narrowed their eyes at the medic, but Kabuto's glare silenced them.

"Are you sure Kabuto-sama? The Kazekage wants us to pull back out of the invasion when he signals tomorrow?" someone asked and Kabuto nodded with a small smirk.

"That's right. He says that he found something interesting and us being there will only be a nuisance to him so let's not interfere with his plans," Kabuto said to them all and everyone agreed that they would follow orders. Soon four people came up behind him and smirked.

"Well we understand anyway. I guess we'll seal them inside to fight the Hokage and then we'll back out got it?" one person with one head on his back said to the others. One had six arms and the others was ridiculously fat while the last was female with red hair going down her back.

"Yeah yeah you fucker. We get it so let's get this over with," she said and everyone shunshined out of sight leaving all, but the girl in the field.

"_Why do I even serve these fucks anyway? Dammit, there has got to be something better that I can do than be ordered around like some damn slave by that pedo for the rest of my life," _she said in thought before she shunshined out of sight also.

_**Konoha, two days later**_

The entire village roared in anticipation. Today was finally the day of the Chunin exam finals and people from all nations were coming to see the event of the coming shinobi. It was becoming a spectacular event as the rows in the chunin exam stadium began to be filled with people by the hundreds, especially the countries' Daimyos who were looking forward to having some betting fun. At the top of the Chunin exam stadium was the Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, in his Hokage robes looking down at the audience and next to him was Suna's Kazekage, but no one knew who it actually was or what was being plotted.

_**With Naruto**_

The blonde yawned as he came into the stadium. Hikari had told him that he had been asleep for two days, but that wasn't what the blonde was doing. No, he was training with Kyuubi in his mindscape for the final event and putting the finishing touches on his training. It had been rather rigorous, but the blonde was rather happy with the results. He didn't have much for fuuton jutsu, but thanks to Kyuubi he has two new ones that would come to be very good and even a new clone jutsu that would help him out if he needed it to.

"Man, it feels like I've been asleep forever," Naruto said while Hikari and Kyuubi chuckled at him.

"**It would definitely seem that way wouldn't it? However you are awake so you'd better take this all in," **Kyuubi said to him and Naruto allowed the light to shine on his face. He heard the various cheers of the stadium and smiled as he closed his eyes. Right by his sides were Shikamaru Nara and Shino Aburame. Next were Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro, but two people were missing. They were Dosu Kinuta and Sasuke Uchiha. Naruto looked left and right, but he didn't see any sign of his Kitsune warrior. Although in his head he had to agree that the name sounded weird, but he could ponder that later. He glanced at Gaara and saw the impassive look he was giving and the blonde grinned slightly before thinking back.

"_Kuso, where are you teme?" _Naruto wondered before everyone saw Genma in front of them.

"Alright genin, stand up and present yourselves to the people in front of you. Welcome to the Chunin exams. I'm Genma Shiranui and I'll be your proctor. These fights will be one on one. Fights will be stopped if the person forfeits, dies, or I call a stop to it. Understood?" he asked and everyone nodded while the Hokage stood to his feet and his voice echoed.

"People of Konoha and of the nations. For years past we have used these chunin exams as a way of showing off our genin to the nations. To show our potential, but to also show our alliances and friendships. May the Will of Fire burn within you all as you compete," Sarutobi yelled and the people of the stadium cheered for him before the Hokage sat down.

"_An inspirational speech by an inspirational man. He's very pure for a human," _Hikari stated making Naruto nod while Kyuubi sighed.

"**Sure, but don't let your guard down Kit. Now show them all who's boss," **Kyuubi yelled and Naruto nodded while Genma turned around. All the genin who didn't make it were sitting down looking at the fight.

"Why the hell is Naruto down there? I should be doing that," Kiba said with a huff and Ino waved him off.

"Please dog breath, he mopped the floor with you and quite easily might I add," Ino answered with a snicker and Kiba growled.

"At least I didn't double KO my opponent along with myself. Damn you're annoying," Kiba said and Akamaru barked with a nod while Ino growled as Sasuke smiled.

"Well it doesn't matter if Naruto-baka made it. In the end, the winner will be Sasuke-kun, but I don't see him," Sakura said while Neji closed his eyes.

"Probably making some grand appearance. Which is just like him," Neji said and Hinata nodded.

"N-Neji-niisan don't be like that," Hinata said to and Neji huffed with a slight nod. Meanwhile Tenten placed one leg over the other and smiled.

"Well I find Naruto's sword fascinating. I wonder who made it," Tenten said more to herself, but everyone heard her.

In another part of the stands, the jonin were talking also about those who made it.

"Well I didn't expect Naruto to be here, but I guess that's just like him. His attire has improved at least," Asuma said while smoking a cigarette and Kurenai nodded.

"Yeah I suppose, but I wonder how much he's grown in the month," the Genjutsu mistress remarked while Anko snickered.

"Please I bet Foxy-kun is gonna rock the house in here. I can't wait for this," Anko said and everyone decided to watch while Genma spoke.

"Alright first match, Naruto Uzumaki vs Sabaku no Temari. Everyone else off the field," Genma stated and Naruto glared at the older blonde woman who glared back. The others decided to leave while Shino and Shikamaru gave Naruto some words of encouragement as they left. Naruto faced Temari and the blonde teen did the same to him. They glared at each other before Temari chuckled and picked up her fan.

"Well I didn't want to beat the handsome one so soon," she said and Naruto smiled as he flicked one of his bangs which had gotten longer along with the other one. The blonde chuckled and placed his hand on Hikari, his sword.

"Like you could, but I'll give you a get well soon present once you're in the hospital," Naruto said and Temari snickered at Naruto's cheekiness before the two blondes turned to Genma. The jonin looked at them both and flicked the senbon in his mouth.

"Alright then. The stage is set for us. Naruto Uzumaki vs Sabaku no Temari. Begin!" Genma yelled as he backed away from them. Temari smirked and so did Naruto before the latter quickly backed away from Temari in a blur of speed making her raise an eyebrow.

"Long distance? Big mistake," she said as she took her fan. Naruto smiled as he turned to Hikari.

"_Ready?" _He asked her and Hikari's light shined.

"_Whenever you are Naruto-sama," _she answered and Naruto drew forth Hikari while everyone seemed entranced by the light. Temari smiled and swung her fan at the blonde. Immediately a heavy gust of wind was sent flying at the blonde and Naruto could only dodge the incoming winds by jumping in the air. Everyone in the stadium seemed surprised by the little act since they figured that the dead last wouldn't act like that. Naruto smirked at their surprises, but kept them coming.

Naruto threw his sword up in the air and crossed his fingers.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**," Naruto yelled as he made a clone. Everyone seemed surprised that the blonde knew a jonin level technique, but he kept it going. Temari didn't give Naruto the chance to react as she swung her fan at the blonde. Naruto grabbed the clone and twisted his body moving the clone out of the way before he sent it flying at Temari. The Suna genin smirked as she opened her fan to block it, but she failed to notice a single handsign from Naruto and the blonde grinned.

"**Kai," **Naruto yelled as the clone neared Temari's fan and exploded sending the girl flying back a few feet earning gasps from the respective population.

"Whoa, when did Naruto learn to do that?" Ino wondered as the same thing was going on in the heads of the others while Sarutobi smiled.

"_Naruto-kun, you really have done a lot of work," _Sarutobi said in thought while the Kazekage glared.

Gaara and the others seemed entranced also by Naruto, but continued to watch in turn.

Temari coughed from the explosion before she used her fan and brushed the dust away.

"Sneaky bastard of a Konoha genin," Temari said with a scowl before she brought her fan back.

"**Daikamaitachi no Jutsu( Wind Scythe: Maximum Wind Blossoming)," **Temari yelled an swung her enormous fan at Naruto sending a severe wind with rapid vacuum waves made to slash the blonde apart. Everyone gasped and waited for the hit, but Naruto wasn't the same as before. The blonde grabbed his sword that was in the air and while holding Hikari in his hands, he did a few one-handed handsigns.

"**Katon: Nagare no Jutsu( Fire Release: Streaming Line Jutsu)," **Naruto yelled and a full blast of fire came from his mouth as it collided with Temari's wind. The Suna genin widened her eyes as her technique was used to power Naruto's flames that were sent hurdling towards her. The stadium was easy surprised by the way Naruto was fighting.

"Was Naruto always this good? It's so amazing. He's actually beating the girl who took down Tenten," Sakura aid while Tenten balled her fists and made them tremble from the excitement.

"Troublesome blonde. Now he's gonna get more attention after this," Shikamaru said and Shino adjusted his glasses.

"It would be wise not to underestimate Naruto-san anymore. He might very well be a match for any chunin here," Shino said and Shikamaru nodded as Temari jumped out of the way from the fire making it explode on the ground.

"_Yes Uzumaki. Fight. Fight! FIGHT! Show me that you want to live!" _Gaara cackled mentally while Naruto dropped to the ground and smirked.

"_Nice assist Kyuubi-chan," _Naruto thought and Kyuubi was currently watching the TV of Naruto's fight and smiled.

"**Nothing to it Kit. I'm more than capable of doing that," **Kyuubi said and Naruto smiled with a slight nod, but Temari huffed while her attire was slightly burned.

"_Dammit, I underestimated him too much. He wasn't that impressive at the prelims so that's my mistake," _Temari thought before she saw Naruto take his sword and assume a small chunin Kumo stance. Everyone watched with anticipation as Naruto smiled. He suddenly dashed at Temari making his appearance blur from her sight and before long Temari, unconsciously, lifted her fan and blocked a slash to her face. She gasped out seeing Naruto in front of her and the blonde smiled before he twisted his body and sent a kick at her face, but Temari's fan was long and managed to parry that attack, but something was there that she didn't realize yet. Her arms were buckling from the strength of Naruto's attack.

Naruto's feet landed on Temari's fan and the blonde backflipped away from her and got back into the air which made Temari really happy.

"Take this and fall you damn brat! **Fuuton: Tatsu no Oshigoto( Wind Release: Great Task of the Dragon)," **Temari yelled out and immediately a giant tornado descended on Naruto making the blonde brace himself before he smiled.

"_Well Hikari-chan, it's time for us to show them our new move," _Naruto told her and Hikari smiled with a light nod.

"_Yes Naruto-sama," _Hikari said with absolute certainty and Naruto brought Hikari back behind his body. The sword shined in a bright light illuminating the entire chunin stadium blinding everyone while Naruto smiled.

"**Kenjutsu No Hikari: Hikou no Arashi( Sword Technique of Light: Soaring Tempest)," **Naruto yelled and with a swing of his sword he shattered the hurricane wall around him then he dashed for Temari. The Suna genin was still blinded, but used her fan to cover her eyes allowing her to see for the most part and the last thing she saw was Naruto's shining blade at her throat. The blonde had a soft glare. Soon everyone was able to see and Genma saw Naruto's move and the position he had Temari in. The Suna genin growled while she sighed.

"_I can't beat him," _Temari thought and she turned to Genma.

"I-I give up," she said and Naruto withdrew his sword while Genma rubbed the back of his head.

"The winner is Naruto Uzumaki," Genma said and contrary to what Naruto was expecting, the stadium roared with cheers and applause. Everyone was so surprised at the blonde jinchuuriki while Yugito and Bee clapped also.

"He was awesome there," Bee said and Yugito smiled with a nod.

"No kidding. I'm so happy for him," Yugito said and Bee smiled with a nod while Asuma whistled.

"Hmm katon techniques, exploding clones and even a fine kenjutsu. He's downright amazing," Asuma said and Kurenai easily nodded.

"So true," she said and the Kazekage turned to Sarutobi.

"Well I didn't suspect my daughter to lose to your blonde," The Kazekage said and Sarutobi smiled.

"That's just who Naruto-kun is. _You both would be so proud of him," _Sarutobi thought and Naruto rubbed the back of his head.

"Man this just got so much harder for us. I swear I should just drop out now," Shikamaru said with a sigh and Shino gave an unnoticeable smile.

"It seems that he's probably surpassed us," Shino said while Gaara gave an insane grin making Kankuro back up slightly.

Meanwhile, Naruto waved and blew kisses to everyone especially Yugito.

"I did it. Yugito-chan I was able to do it," Naruto yelled and the blonde chunin chuckled with a nod as she remembered his training. Soon the field quieted down and Genma smirked.

"Next fight, Sasuke Uchiha vs Sabaku no Gaara," Genma yelled and Naruto grabbed the bars while Gaara disappeared and reappeared on the ground. The whole stadium was silent and Genma narrowed his eyes.

"_Come on Teme. Get your ass in gear and get here," _Naruto said in thought and before long Genma closed his eyes.

"I guess I'll have to forfeit him," Genma said to himself while the Kazekage spoke to Sarutobi.

"Sarutobi, don't you think we could postpone his match? People really want to see my son fight the Uchiha the most," the Kazekage said while Sarutobi gave a hidden smile.

"There is no need," Sarutobi said and the Kazekage raised an eyebrow before the wind on the field blew. Immediately Kakashi and Sasuke appeared on the ground while the people cheered and Naruto sighed.

"_Damn show off," _the blonde said and Sasuke turned to him.

"Hey loser, did you win?" Sasuke asked with a yell and Naruto grinned as he gave a thumbs up.

"Damn right. Now it's your turn teme," Naruto said and Sasuke smiled with a nod before turning to Gaara while Kakashi rubbed the back of his head.

"Umm hi, sorry we're late," he said and Genma shook his head at them.

"Nah, you're right on time. Now get off the field and let them fight," Genma said while Kakashi nodded. He gave Sasuke some words of encouragement and left while Sasuke faced Gaara. He narrowed his eyes and smile while Genma looked from left to right.

"Alright then now that we're here we can get started," He said while everyone waited with anticipation.

"Match between Sasuke Uchiha and Sabaku no Gaara," Genma said as he raised his hand. Sasuke smirked and Gaara gave a crazy smile.

"Begin," Genma yelled.

* * *

><p><em><strong>KG: Note that I never dropped this story. It was one a long pause, but I guess with some time I can get it down. It's quite interesting that I even thought of updating this, but I decided to put some doubts about me dropping this story to rest. Never did want rumors floating around. So I'll just update this whenever I can. That's all I've got for now. Later. <strong>_


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